Adventures   and 
Day   Dreams 


By  I.  OWEN  THOMPSON 


ILLUSTRATED 


Long  Beach,  California 
1913 


Copyright,  1913 
By  I.  Owen  Thompson 


PREFACE 

In  giving  this  Book  of  Adventures  and  Fiction  to  the 
public,  it  is  hoped  there  may  be  some  who  are  thirsting 
for  knowledge,  such  as  we  are  able  to  write.  It  is 
natural  to  crave  the  knowledge  as  the  result  of  personal 
experiences  of  others.  Of  the  millions  and  million 
of  people  who  inhabit  the  earth,  no  two  are  alike  in 
feature  and  thought.  How  interesting  if  all  our  lips 
were  unsealed  to  the  world.  Society  has  taught  us  to 
curb  our  emotions.  If  we  could  live  for  one  day 
naturally,  and  express  our  thoughts  as  they  come  to  us, 
then  we  would  interest  the  public. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


BIX,  HIS  OWN  MASTER 

OR 

THE  DAWN  OF  DAY 

The  moon  is  on  watch  tonight.  He  sees  a  little 
white  house  covered  with  vines  and  trees.  Someone  is 
crawling  down  the  vine  from  the  porch.  A  son  leaving 
home.  The  moon  smiles.  You  might  imagine  him 
saying,  "An  honest  face.  He  will  come  back  again. 
I  have  seen  the  act  before."  Then  the  moon  pulls  a 
huge  cloud  over  his  face  and  goes  to  sleep. 

It  was  Bixby  Chandelor,  leaving  his  home  near 
Dayton,  Ohio.  The  day  before,  he  had  driven  the 
black  colt  to  the  city  against  his  father's  orders.  The 
colt  was  unshod  and  fell  on  the  ice,  breaking  his  leg. 
He  had  to  be  shot  and  father  and  son  had  hard  words 
over  it.  Bix,  as  he  was  nicknamed,  decided  to  leave 
home.  He  left  a  note  telling  his  parents  not  to  look 
for  him  and  that  he  would  come  back  some  day  and 
pay  for  the  colt.  He  went  down  through  the  orchard 
and  out  on  the  highway  to  Dayton.  Here  he  stole  a 
ride  on  a  freight  train  going  west.  After  a  good  many 
hardships  he  landed  in  Wichita,  Kansas.  Hungry  and 
tired  he  roamed  the  streets,  with  no  money  to  buy  food. 
He  wandered  around  until  he  came  to  the  big  horse 
sales  stables  at  the  show  grounds.  He  sat  down  on  a 
bench  and  overheard  two  men  talking.  One  was 
asking  the  other,  "Do  you  know  where  I  could  get  a 


ADVENTURES  AND  DAY  DREAMS 

man  to  help  me?  I  live  out  in  Oregon  and  have  bought 
a  carload  of  Percherons  from  Robinson  at  Towanda. 
I  want  a  man  to  go  through  with  them." 

Bix  asked  him  for  the  job. 

The  man  said,  "Can  you  furnish  any  recommenda- 
tion?" 

Bix  answered,  "No,  sir,  but  I  was  raised  on  a  farm 
and  know  how  to  care  for  horses." 

"Well,  I  will  give  you  board  and  a  free  pass  and  if 
you  get  through  with  the  colts  all  right  I  will  allow  you 
a  dollar  a  day." 

"All  right,  sir,  I  will  take  the  job." 

They  went  to  the  car.  It  was  to  be  pulled  out  at 
8  P.  M.  It  was  a  thirty-four  foot  box  car.  They  made 
a  partition  in  each  end,  leaving  a  space  in  the  middle 
as  wide  as  the  doors.  This  was  for  baled  hay  and  a 
barrel  of  water.  The  horses  were  to  stay  in  the  car 
until  they  reached  their  destination.  They  were  two 
year  olds.  They  put  five  filleys  in  one  end  and  two 
stallions  in  the  other.  Just  before  starting,  Mr.  Smith, 
the  owner,  told  Bix  to  get  another  barrel  the  first 
chance  he  got.  He  was  afraid  the  one  would  not  hold 
enough  water. 

The  engine  coughed  and  wheezed.  The  cars  jerked 
with  a  bang  nearly  knocking  Bix  off  his  feet.  The  colts 
jammed  and  crowded  each  other.  The  train  was 
moving.  They  switched  onto  the  Missouri  Pacific, 
then  up  to  Ellsworth  on  the  main  line.  Now  the  car 
Bix  was  in  was  coupled  onto  the  through  freight.  Bix 

6 


BIX,  HIS  OWN  MASTER 

would  feed  and  water  the  colts  and  then  at  the  first 
stop  would  go  back  to  the  caboose  where  there  was  a 
fire,  and  ride.  It  was  February  the  first,  and  pretty 
cold,  but  there  was  no  snow.  At  the  end  of  each 
division  the  engine  and  the  caboose  would  be  exchanged 
and  Bix  would  go  into  the  car  with  the  colts  and  stay 
until  the  train  started  again. 

When  they  pulled  into  Denver,  Bix  was  told  that 
they  would  lay  over  there  eight  hours,  so  he  started 
out  to  find  an  empty  barrel.  First  he  took  the  number 
of  his  car — 13415.  They  were  cutting  the  trains  all 
up  and  switching  every  way.  There  were  hundreds  of 
cars  on  the  sidings.  It  was  about  8  P.  M.  and  Bix  went 
to  several  stores  but  they  were  all  closed.  He  was 
about  to  give  up  when  he  saw  a  barrel  in  front  of  a 
saloon,  marked  for  sale.  He  went  inside  and  asked  the 
bartender  if  he  could  buy  the  barrel.  There  were 
several  rough  looking  men  at  the  bar  drinking.  One 
bleary-eyed,  red- whiskered  fellow  turned  and  said: 
"Come  up,  kid,  and  have  a  drink." 

Bix  said,  "No,  sir,  I  never  drink." 

The  tough  threw  his  arm  around  Bix's  neck  and  said, 
"You  drink  or  fight." 

Bix  was  getting  mad  and  he  punched  the  fellow  in 
the  jaw,  causing  him  to  fall  like  a  sack  of  bran.  The 
others  made  a  rush  for  Bix.  Now  the  bartender  took  a 
hand.  He  stepped  from  behind  the  bar  with  a  six- 
shooter  and  said,  "You  fellows  leave  the  kid  alone  and 
get  out." 


ADVENTURES  AND  DAY  DREAMS 

Bix  thanked  him  and  bought  the  barrel.  When  he 
started  with  it  he  found  he  could  not  carry  it  so  he  had 
to  roll  it  down  the  street.  He  would  kick  it  along  with 
his  feet  and  here  poor  Bix  was  misjudged.  There  was 
some  whiskey  left  in  the  barrel.  Just  enough  to  smell 
and  to  make  matters  worse  he  gave  the  barrel  a  big 
kick.  His  foot  went  up  and  he  went  down  on  his  back 
in  the  gutter.  The  people  saw  him  lying  there,  smelt 
the  whiskey  and  thought  he  was  drunk.  It  was  lucky 
for  him  that  there  were  no  police  about.  He  finally 
got  the  barrel  to  the  car  and  knocked  the  head  out. 
Then  the  men  came  with  the  hose  and  filled  both 
barrels. 

He  closed  the  door  and  lay  down  on  the  hay  and  went 
to  sleep.  When  he  awoke  the  train  was  speeding 
towards  its  destination  and  he  felt  lonesome.  He 
counted  the  minutes  and  miles  that  separated  him  from 
his  parents  in  the  little  Ohio  home. 

While  crossing  the  big  desert  the  brakeman  invited 
him  to  ride  in  the  lookout.  From  here  he  saw  miles 
and  miles  of  level  country.  Looking  back  he  saw  two 
shining  streaks  of  steel  as  far  as  the  eye  can  penetrate. 
He  looked  ahead  and  saw  what  looked  to  him  like  a 
huge  worm  wiggling  its  way  along.  Nearer  and 
nearer  it  came.  Now  a  ring  of  smoke  curled  along  its 
back.  It  is  the  express.  Swiftly  the  narrowing  span 
between  the  rushing  engines  was  closing.  Unaccus- 
tomed to  railroading,  Bix  is  panic  striken.  He  thinks 
they  are  in  danger  of  collision.  They  come  to  a  siding. 

8 


BIX,  HIS  OWN  MASTER 

The  brakeman  throws  a  switch  and  they  run  out  on  the 
siding.  With  a  shriek  and  a  roar  the  huge  engine  goes 
rolling  by.  It  is  an  every  day  occurrence  with  railroad 
men.  They  count  the  minutes  and  seconds  as  we 
do  hours. 

Passing  through  Idaho  there  was  snow  on  the  ground 
and  they  hear  of  washouts  ahead.  They  pulled  into 
LaGrande,  Oregon  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  of 
February  the  eighth  and  were  sidetracked  twenty 
hours.  This  was  the  year  of  the  big  washouts  on  the 
upper  Columbia,  Snake  River  and  other  streams  on 
the  0.  R.  &  N.  Co.'s  lines.  The  sidings  were  all 
jammed  full  of  freight  trains,  waiting  orders.  Bix 
takes  on  more  baled  hay.  He  was  getting  short  of  feed 
on  account  of  the  delay.  At  night  he  fed  and  watered 
the  colts  and  spread  his  blankets  on  the  hay  and  lay 
down.  He  thought  of  his  nice,  soft  bed  at  home. 
Then  he  dropped  asleep  and  dreamed  of  his  parents. 

He  saw  his  father  come  from  the  barn  with  the  milk 
pails  and  tell  him  not  to  drive  the  black  colt  to  the  city. 
Then  he  stole  the  colt  out  and  with  a  neighbor  boy  went 
to  the  city.  Now  he  is  coming  home  over  the  ice. 
Bang!  Crash!  the  colt  fell  and  was  floundering.  He 
wakes  up.  The  train  had  started  and  thrown  him 
off  the  hay.  One  of  the  colts  was  down  and  the  others 
were  tramping  on  him.  Bix  got  over  and  helped  the 
colt  up.  They  were  going  up  grade  now  in  the  Blue 
mountains.  The  two  engines  charged  up  the  grade 
pluckily.  The  string  of  cars  was  a  long  one,  but  the 


ADVENTURES  AND  DAY  DREAMS 

big  mountain  creepers  steamed  easily  up  and  up.  The 
train  climbed  past  the  little  stations  which  now  and 
then  were  set  on  the  wooded  mountain  side.  The 
grade  was  not  steep  all  the  way.  There  were  plateaus 
part  of  the  way.  Then  they  were  up  to  the  summit  and 
the  extra  engine  cut  loose  and  went  back.  Down  the 
western  skirt  of  the  saddle  the  train  shot  out  on  the 
level  to  Umatilla  Junction.  They  got  orders  to  side- 
track here  again. 

Bix  has  some  experience  with  tramps  here.  Two 
tried  to  get  into  his  car.  He  shut  the  door  and  put  up 
a  bar  to  hold  it  fast.  He  stayed  inside  until  he  heard 
the  engine  coupling  onto  his  train  and  then  he  opened 
the  door.  The  train  was  starting  slow.  The  two 
tramps  saw  the  door  open  and  made  a  rush  to  get  in. 
One  got  in,  but  Bix  knocked  him  out  on  his  back  and 
shut  the  door  on  the  other's  fingers.  He  was  dragged 
some  distance  before  his  hands  came  loose.  At  Pendle- 
ton  Bix  got  off  to  get  something  to  eat  and  when  he 
came  back  there  was  another  tramp  in  the  car.  He  was 
a  young  fellow  about  Bix's  age  and  he  had  no  overcoat 
and  was  about  froze  so  Bix  let  him  stay  and  told  him  he 
could  ride  as  far  as  The  Dalles.  That  was  as  far  as  the 
car  was  to  go.  So  the  young  fellow  lay  down  on  the 
hay  and  went  to  sleep.  When  they  pulled  into  The 
Dalles,  Bix  woke  him  and  told  him  to  get  off.  The 
tramp  was  about  half  asleep.  There  were  some  empty 
sacks  over  the  barrel  half  full  of  water.  He  got  up  and 
walked  over  the  baled  hay  and  stepped  on  the  sacks. 

10 


BIX,  HIS  OWN  MASTER 

Down  he  went  in  the  ice  water.  When  he  went 
shivering  down  the  track,  Bix  felt  sorry  for  him. 

Smith,  the  owner  of  the  colts  met  Bix  here.  He  had 
saddle  horses  and  they  drove  the  colts  out  to  his  ranch. 
Bix  worked  here  until  the  following  harvest.  Then  he 
decided  to  go  back  in  the  wheat  country  to  work  with 
some  big  threshing  outfits.  He  got  off  the  train  at 
Biggs,  a  little  junction  station.  Here  a  branch  line 
runs  south  about  seventy-five  miles  to  Shaniko.  He 
asked  the  agent  when  the  train  went  south.  The 
agent  said  some  time  that  day.  They  did  not  have  any 
regular  time. 

So  Bix  decided  to  walk  up  the  track.  He  followed 
up  the  canyon  until  he  came  to  a  little  siding  called 
Gibson's.  He  saw  six  box  cars  standing  on  the  siding 
loaded  with  wheat.  He  was  hot  and  tired  so  he  crawled 
in  one  car  on  top  of  the  wheat  and  soon  fell  asleep. 
When  he  woke  the  car  was  in  motion.  He  thought  the 
freight  train  had  come  along  and  picked  up  the  car 
and  was  taking  him  back  down  to  Biggs  before  he  could 
get  off.  The  cars  were  gaining  speed  all  the  time.  Bix 
looked  out  and  could  see  no  engine.  Then  he  began  to 
realize  his  danger.  He  crawled  on  top  of  the  car  and 
looked  back.  He  saw  two  tramps  standing  on  the 
siding.  They  had  been  put  off  the  cars  the  day  before 
and  through  spite  had  loosed  the  brakes  and  turned 
the  six  cars  loose.  Every  moment  they  were  increasing 
the  speed  and  swaying  dangerously.  On  his  trip  with 
the  colts  Bix  had  hopes  of  becoming  a  brakeman  but 

11 


BIX,  HIS  OWN  MASTER 

now  he  lost  all  desire  for  the  job.  He  lay  down  and 
crawled  to  the  end  of  the  car' and  set  the  brake,  but 
this  did  not  lessen  the  speed  much.  He  remembered 
seeing  a  curve  just  before  the  track  went  out  on  the 
main  line  at  Biggs.  He  must  do  something  before  the 
cars  got  to  the  curve.  He  thought  of  the  sand  drifts. 
He  would  jump  into  the  sand.  The  railroad  company 
put  up  boards  to  shield  the  sand  from  the  track.  The 
wind  blows  the  sand  up  along  the  boards  and  forms  little 
mountains  of  sand.  Bix  stood  up  and  jumped  with  his 
eyes  closed.  It  was  fortunate  that  he  lit  angling  on  the 
side  of  a  huge  drift.  His  breath  was  nearly  knocked 
out  of  him.  He  went  rolling  and  sliding  down  with  the 
sand  all  over  him.  Then  he  heard  a  crash.  The  cars 
had  gone  over  the  curve.  He  shook  the  sand  from  his 
eyes  and  got  to  his  feet.  There  were  the  cars  down  the 
bank  and  thousands  of  dollars  of  wheat  scattered  in 
the  sand.  Unlucky  Bix!  Now  a  new  danger  awaits 
him.  The  switchman  had  seen  the  runaway  cars 
coming.  He  ran  to  throw  the  switch  and  saw  Bix  jump 
and  the  cars  go  over  the  bank.  He  told  the  agent  so 
they  took  Bix  to  The  Dalles  and  put  him  under  arrest. 
Then  he  told  about  the  tramps  turning  the  cars  loose. 
The  company  sent  a  man  up  the  line  to  investigate. 
He  found  the  tramps  making  a  meal  off  some  goods  they 
had  stolen  from  the  cars  the  day  before.  He  took  them 
to  The  Dalles.  Bix  was  given  his  liberty  and  a  ticket 
up  the  Shaniko  branch. 
He  secured  a  job  with  a  combine  harvester  on  a  big 

13 


ADVENTURES  AND  DAY  DREAMS 

wheat  ranch.  Unlucky  Bix!  Here  he  had  more 
adventures.  There  was  a  long  pen  to  feed  the  horses 
in,  about  thirty  feet  wide  and  one  hundred  feet  long. 
It  was  made  of  panels  three  feet  high  and  twenty  feet 
long.  These  were  tied  at  the  ends  to  posts  set  in  the 
ground.  This  pen  was  filled  with  wheat  headings  and 
the  horses  were  tied  around  the  outside.  There  were 
about  forty  horses  tied  to  the  pen  at  night.  The  men 
would  take  their  blankets  and  sleep  on  the  hay  inside 
the  pen.  Bix  had  a  canvas  sewed  up  like  a  pillowcase 
with  one  end  open.  His  blankets  were  inside  and  he 
would  slip  down  between  them  and  sleep  warm  and 
comfortable.  He  was  sleeping  in  the  pen  one  night 
when  there  came  up  a  wind  and  thunder  storm.  Some 
of  the  horses  were  bronchos  and  they  got  frightened  and 
broke  one  panel  loose,  jumping  over  into  the  pen  and 
swung  around  over  Bix.  They  broke  three  more 
panels  and  went  across  the  field  dragging  the  panels  by 
their  halter  chains.  When  they  swung  over  Bix  there 
was  a  big  spike  in  one  panel  that  caught  in  his  canvas 
and  dragged  him  across  the  field  bottom  side  up  for 
half  a  mile.  He  was  trapped  like  a  cat  in  a  sack. 
Finally  the  canvas  tore  loose  and  left  him.  He  crawled 
out  and  went  limping  back  after  his  clothes.  The 
boys  joked  him  about  his  ride  in  the  aeroplane. 

After  harvest  was  over  he  went  south  into  the  stock 
country.  He  stopped  at  a  big  ranch  near  Antelope 
and  asked  for  a  job  riding.  He  did  not  have  much 
recommendation  as  a  cowboy,  but  the  boss  was  short- 

14 


BIX,  HIS  OWN  MASTER 

handed  and  hired  him.  Unlucky!  he  had  more  trouble. 
The  boss  gave  him  a  gentle  horse  to  ride.  The  other 
boys  saw  that  he  was  a  tenderfoot  so  they  planned  for 
some  fun.  At  night  they  ran  off  his  saddlehorse  and 
in  the  morning  told  the  boss  they  could  not  find  the 
new  man's  horse.  He  told  them  to  get  up  another  for 
him  to  ride.  The  boys  winked  at  each  other  and  went 
to  the  corral.  They  already  had  one  picked  for  Bix, 
an  innocent  looking  little  bay  that  could  buck  some. 
They  told  Bix  he  was  the  only  gentle  one  they  had  up, 
so  he  saddled  him.  The  other  boys  were  in  no  hurry  to 
leave  the  corral.  They  saddled  slow  and  lounged  about. 
They  all  wanted  to  see  the  show.  The  boss  came  down 
and  said,  "Come,  boys,  you  had  better  get  started." 
Then  they  got  on  their  horses.  When  Bix  got  on  his  the 
little  bay  humped  his  back  and  walked  a  few  steps 
stiff-legged.  That  was  a  sure  sign.  Then  he  gathered 
his  feet  all  together,  put  his  nose  between  his  knees  and 
flew  into  the  air.  The  first  jump  Bix  lost  one  stirrup; 
the  next  jump  both  feet  were  loose  and  he  was  holding 
onto  the  saddlehorn  with  both  hands;  the  third  jump 
he  went  sailing  up  in  the  air  and  turning  a  complete 
somersault  lit  in  front  of  the  horse  in  a  sitting  position. 
Bix  felt  as  though  his  neck  was  two  inches  shorter.  By 
the  time  the  horse  had  quit  bucking  the  boys  had  all 
disappeared  in  different  directions.  Bix  was  getting 
his  dander  up  and  he  saw  the  boys  had  played  a  game 
on  him.  So  he  made  a  vow  right  there  that  he  would 
ride  the  little  bay  or  die  trying. 

15 


ADVENTURES  AND  DAY  DREAMS 

The  little  horse  must  have  understood  his  resolve,  for 
when  Bix  got  on  his  back  he  never  bucked  a  jump,  but 
trotted  off.  This  was  the  part  the  boys  did  not  see. 
Bix  rode  all  day  and  at  night  when  he  came  riding  the 
little  bay  into  camp  the  boys  all  respected  his  grit  and 
shook  him  warmly  by  the  hand  in  true  western  spirit. 

He  stayed  on  the  big  ranch  one  year  and  learned  to 
be  a  good  rider.  Then  the  roving  spirit  took  possession 
of  him  again.  He  crossed  the  mountains  into  the 
western  part  of  the  state  and  hired  to  a  farmer  by  the 
name  of  Cribs  on  the  Willamette  River.  The  rainy 
season  had  set  in  so  he  was  to  chore  around  for  his 
board.  When  it  came  good  weather  he  was  to  get 
wages.  Unlucky  Bix!  his  trouble  this  time  was  to 
spend  the  night  in  a  tree  with  a  pig.  But  hold — I  am 
getting  ahead  of  my  story.  In  this  part  of  the  state 
it  sometimes  rains  for  two  or  three  months  at  a  time. 
This  fall  it  seemed  to  rain  harder  than  ever.  The  river 
began  to  rise  and  the  smaller  streams  were  all  swollen. 
The  sloughs  were  sheets  of  water. 

In  the  morning  at  breakfast  Cribs  said :  "Bix,  we  will 
have  to  get  the  sheep  up  off  the  river  and  move  them 
to  the  hills.  I  am  afraid  the  river  will  be  out  of  its 
banks  by  night." 

So  they  put  on  rubber  coats  and  long  rubber  boots 
and  went  after  the  sheep.  They  had  to  cross  them 
over  a  slough.  The  water  was  only  about  two  feet 
deep  (in  the  middle  but  sheep  are  foolish  about  taking 
to  water.  So  the  men  shoved  and  "shooed"  until  they 

16 


BIX,  HIS  OWN  MASTER 

nearly  gave  up.  Then  Cribs  said,  "Bix,  if  we  could 
get  a  few  over  the  others  would  follow."  So  each 
grabbed  a  sheep  and  carried  it  over.  When  they  set 
them  down  and  started  back  they  ran  back  to  the 
flock. 

Bix  said,  "You  hold  the  sheep  while  I  bring  more." 
He  brought  one  over  and  it  stayed  with  the  other 
two,  so  he  carried  ten  over,  one  at  a  time.  Then  they 
both  went  back  and  started  the  bunch.  When  the 
flock  saw  the  others  across  the  water  they  all  made  a 
rush  and  drowned  two.  They  drove  the  sheep  to  high 
ground.  It  was  nearly  dark  when  they  got  back.  The 
river  was  up  around  the  house.  Cribs  said,  "Go  and 
let  the  stock  all  loose  while  I  carry  things  upstairs." 

Bix  went  in  the  barn  and  untied  the  horses  and 
cattle  and  drove  them  outside.  Then  he  heard  the 
pigs  squealing  so  he  went  to  the  pig  pen  and  found  them 
all  floating  in  water.  He  got  a  plank  and  threw  it 
over  to  the  top  of  the  fence  and  walked  across.  He 
kicked  some  top  boards  off  and  turned  to  walk  back. 
The  water  was  rising  and  the  plank  teetered,  throwing 
Bix  in  head  first.  He  struck  his  elbow  on  a  floating 
chunk  and  it  hurt,  so  he  could  hardly  swim,  so  he  floated 
down  until  he  lodged  against  some  driftwood  in  the 
fork  of  a  tree.  He  crawled  up  on  this  and  lay  down. 
Presently  he  saw  a  barn  door  floating  towards  the  tree. 
He  got  a  limb  and  drew'it*near  and  pulled  it  up  on  the 
drift  and  now|he  had  a  comfortable  platform.  Then 
he  saw  something  white  coming  his  way.  It  was  a 

17 


BIX,  HIS  OWN  MASTER 

good  sized  shoat.  He  reached  out  and  pulled  the  pig 
onto  the  platform.  Then  he  sat  down  with  his  back 
to  the  tree.  All  around  him  was  the  roaring,  foaming 
water.  The  only  living  thing  near  was  the  white  pig. 
Some  people  may  only  remember  the  pig  as  sliced  into 
breakfast  bacon  and  some  may  have  a  memory  of  nice, 
juicy  spare-ribs,  but  to  this  day  Bix  will  not  eat  pig 
meat  in  any  form.  The  pig  walked  around  the  plat- 
form three  or  four  times  and  lay  down  against  Bix's 
leg.  It  was  getting  chilly  and  the  warm  body  of  the 
pig  felt  comfortable.  All  through  the  long  night  Bix 
and  "piggy"  kept  each  other  company.  Bix  was 
homesick  and  he  thought  if  he  got  out  of  that  place 
alive  he  would  go  home  and  turn  over  a  new  leaf. 

At  daylight  he  heard  someone  halloa  so  he  put  his 
hands  to  his  mouth  and  halloaed  back.  Two  men  in  a 
boat  came  and  took  him  and  the  pig  to  land. 

t     t     t 

It  is  9  P.  M.  and  dark.  If  the  wise  old  moon  had 
been  on  duty  he  would  have  seen  his  prophecy  come 
true.  A  well-dressed  young  man  was  coming  up  the 
road  from  Dayton  leading  a  fine  black  Percheron  filly. 
When  he  came  to  the  little  white  house  just  off  the  road 
among  the  trees  he  went  into  the  gate  and  past  the 
house.  He  seemed  to  know  just  where  he  was  going. 
He  led  the  colt  to  the  barn,  lifted  the  latch  and  went  in 
the  stable.  A  horse  nickered  and  he  went  over  and 
patted  her  on  the  neck,  saying  in  her  ear,  "Kit,  old 
girl,  you  know  me,  don't  you?" 

18 


ADVENTURES  AND  DAY  DREAMS 

Now  this  same  evening  farmer  Chandelor  and  his  wife 
were  talking  about  their  absent  son. 

His  wife  said,  "Pa,  don't  you  think  you  were  a  little 
severe  with  Bixby." 

"I  think  I  was,  Ma.  I  thought  it  for  the  best  then. 
I  ought  to  have  let  him  go  in  company  more,  I  guess. 
Do  you  think  he  will  ever  come  back?  It  has  been  five 
years  now  and  we  have  had  no  word  from  him." 

The  old  lady  answers:  "I  feel  that  he  will  come,  Pa. 
He  was  a  boy  that  kept  his  word  and  you  know  he 
left  a  note  saying  he  would  come  back  some  day." 

The  door  opened  and  in  walked  Bixby  Chandelor, 
tall  and  sturdy  with  a  beard  on  his  face.  He  said, 
"Am  I  welcome,  father  and  mother?" 

They  both  exclaim,  "What  is  this?    Our  son?" 

"I  am  he." 

"Welcome  home,  son,"  said  the  old  man  and  they 
embrace  him  warmly. 

Then  he  tells  them,  "I  see  now  that  I  was  wrong. 
I  have  tried  to  make  good.  The  duplicate  of  the  black 
colt  is  in  the  barn." 

"Son,  we  will  look  at  it  in  the  morning.  We  want 
to  talk  to  you  tonight." 

In  the  morning  they  all  go  to  see  the  black  colt. 
The  old  man  said,  "My  gracious,  ma,  isn't  she  a  beauty. 
What  do  you  call  her,  Bix?" 

"I  haven't  named  her  yet,  but  if  I  was  to  suggest  one, 
I  would  call  her  Roxana,  which  means  'Dawn  of  Day/ 
for  this  is  the  dawn  of  a  new  day  to  me." 

20 


THE  WOLF 

For  shrewdness  and  cunning  he  could  outdo  the  most 
ferocious  timber  wolf.  He  had  been  a  menace  to  the 
settlers  along  the  northern  slope  of  the  Siskiyou 
mountains  for  years.  When  pursued  he  had  always 
eluded  those  that  tried  to  capture  him.  One  time  it 
would  be  a  fat  pig  missing  and  then  complaint  would 
come  from  some  rancher  miles  away.  He  had  been 
robbed  of  bacon  and  canned  goods.  Finally  the 
sheriff  took  up  the  case  and  offered  a  reward  of  five 
hundred  dollars  for  the  capture  of  the  outlaw  known 
as  the  "Wolf." 

About  this  time  two  young  men  from  the  east  took  a 
claim  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  on  a  little  creek.  It 
seems  strange  how  opposites  in  Nature  take  to  each 
other.  Jack  Harding  was  dark,  stout  and  robust,  while 
Joseph  Wing  was  fair  and  slim  and  of  a  nervous 
disposition.  They  were  very  much  attached  to  each 
other. 

They  cut  some  logs  and  constructed  a  rude  cabin, 
then  they  built  a  stable  and  corral  for  two  small  horses 
they  had.  One  day  Jack  went  to  the  store  to  get  some 
provisions  and  mail  a  letter.  He  rode  Tony,  the  little 
bay,  and  led  Jim,  the  sorrel,  with  a  pack  saddle.  As 
he  rode  off  he  turned  in  the  saddle  and  said,  "Joe,  I 
may  be  late  getting  home.  Don't  wait  supper." 

When  Jack  got  his  provisions  packed  on  the  saddle 
he  looked  at  his  watch  and  it  was  2  p.  m.  Then  he 

21 


THE  WOLF 

thought  to  mail  his  letter  so  he  went  to  the  back  of  the 
store  where  the  office  was  and  as  he  dropped  his  letter 
and  turned  to  go  his  eye  caught  the  sheriff's  notice: 
"$500.00  reward  for  the  capture  of  the  outlaw  known  as 
'The  Wolf/  (Signed)  Billy  Wiggins,  Sheriff." 

Joe  worked  until  dark  getting  out  material  to  make  a 
pasture  fence  for  the  horses.  Then  he  went  to  the 
cabin  and  built  a  fire  to  cook  supper.  He  ate  his 
supper  and  set  some  by  the  fire  for  Jack.  He  sat  down 
by  the  fire  and  as  he  was  tired  and  drowsy  he  soon  fell 
asleep.  He  was  awakened  by  the  heavy  slab  door 
creaking.  He  looked  up  and  saw  in  the  door  the  most 
ferocious  human  being  he  had  ever  seen.  His  face  was 
covered  with  a  shaggy  beard  and  his  hair  hung  over  his 
shoulders.  His  few  clothes  were  in  rags.  His  eyes 
were  like  two  burning  coals.  Joe  was  frightened,  but 
it  was  evident  that  the  creature  had  not  seen  him  as  the 
room  was  partly  dark  and  Joe  was  sitting  nearly  behind 
the  door.  The  intruder  slouched  across  the  room 
towards  the  table.  Joe  saw  his  chance  and  dodged  out 
the  door  and  pulled  it  after  him  with  a  bang.  There 
was  a  pin  and  latch  on  the  outside.  This  he  fastened. 
Now  he  was  undecided  what  to  do  with  his  prisoner. 
Then  a  welcome  sound  came  to  his  ears.  It  was  Jack 
coming  over  the  creek.  Joe  was  so  excited  he  could 
hardly  explain  to  him. 

"You  light  the  lantern,"  said  Jack,  "and  open  the 
door.  I  will  cover  him  with  my  revolver." 

Joe  pushed  the  door  open  and  moved  his  lantern  to 

23 


ADVENTURES  AND  DAY  DREAMS 

and  fro.  They  peered  into  each  corner,  but  could  see 
no  one.  Then  Jack  saw  the  small  trap  window  open. 

"Well,  Joe,  if  you  had  a  prisoner  he  is  gone,  but  I 
rather  think  you  were  dreaming." 

"Dreaming,  was  I?  See  that  piece  of  cloth  sticking 
on  the  nail  in  the  window."  Joe  then  explained  what 
his  prisoner  looked  like. 

Jack  exclaimed,  "Just  our  luck.  We  lost  five  hundred 
dollars  by  letting  that  fellow  get  away."  He  then 
told  Joe  about  the  sheriffs  notice. 

No  doubt  this  was  "The  Wolf,"  the  wild  man  of  the 
Siskiyous.  The  boys  planned  to  capture  "The  Wolf." 
The  reward  would  come  in  handy  to  stock  up  the  ranch. 
For  months  no  one  heard  or  saw  "The  Wolf."  The 
boys  bought  a  cow  and  exchanged  work  with  a  neighbor 
for  two  pigs  to  drink  what  milk  they  did  not  use.  They 
cut  some  small  logs  to  build  a  house  for  the  pigs.  When 
laying  the  foundation  Joe  said,  "I  have  an  idea.  Let's 
build  so  as  to  guard  against  'The  Wolf  stealing  our 
pigs  and  at  the  same  time  set  a  trap."  His  plan  was 
to  build  a  partition  and  put  the  pigs  in  the  back  end 
which  would  be  covered  over.  So  the  thief  would 
have  to  go  through  the  front  end  to  get  the  pigs.  The 
open  end  would  have  a  top  swung  up  and  set  with  a 
trigger.  When  the  thief  stepped  on  a  board  in  the 
bottom  of  the  pen  the  top  would  close  and  shut  him  in. 

"A  wise  head,"  exclaimed  Jack. 

They  worked  on  the  trap  pen  until  it  was  completed, 
then  Jack  went  inside  to  see  if  it  would  work.  It 

24 


THE  WOLF 

worked  like  a  charm.  In  fact,  it  worked  like  a  charm 
because  Jack  was  a  prisoner  and  Joe  was  unable  to 
release  him  and  had  to  bring  one  of  the  neighbors 
before  the  door  could  be  raised. 

The  next  day  they  put  the  pigs  in.  There  was  a  hole 
in  one  side  to  put  the  feed  in  so  they  need  not  bother 
the  trap. 

Now  came  word  that  "The  Wolf"  had  been  plunder- 
ing five  miles  up  the  mountain.  Joe  and  Jack  went 
well  armed  and  the  settlers  were  all  on  the  watch  hoping 
to  starve  him  out.  One  morning  Jack  was  getting 
breakfast  while  Joe  was  gone  to  milk  the  cow  and  feed 
the  pigs.  Jack  was  walking  to  the  table  with  the 
skillet  of  hot  bacon  when  the  door  flew  open  with  a 
bang,  knocking  him  down.  The  bacon  and  grease 
flew  every  way.  In  rushed  Joe  yelling,  "We  got 
him.  We  got  him." 

Jack  got  to  his  feet  and  shook  Joe  by  the  shoulder, 
"Joe,  have  you  gone  crazy  or  what  is  the  matter  with 
you?" 

Then  Joe  said  that  the  trap  pen  was  down. 

They  grabbed  their  guns  and  run  to  the  pen.  The 
pigs  were  squealing  and  something  was  moving  around 
inside. 

Jack  said,  "Joe,  you  ride  after  the  sheriff  while  I 
watch  him." 

Joe  mounted  and  rode  as  fast  as  the  horse  could  run. 
Jack  sat  on  a  stump  and  kept  watch.  After  two  or 
three  hours  he  realized  he  had  Jiad  no  breakfast.  He 

26 


THE  WOLF 

ran  to  the  shack  and  grabbing  something  off  the  table 
came  back  to  watch.  He  could  not  hear  the  pigs  now 
so  thought  they  had  quieted  down. 

About  10  A.  M.  Joe,  the  sheriff  and  a  deputy  came 
loping  up.  When  the  sheriff  saw  Jack  sitting  on  the 
stump  he  said,  "Well,  my  boy,  so  you  have  trapped 
The  Wolf/  " 

"He  is  in  there/'  and  Jack  pointed  to  the  pen. 

They  planned  how  to  get  him  out.  The  sheriff  got 
a  rope  and  they  all  go  up  to  the  pen  and  look  through 
the  cracks.  The  sheriff  jumped  back  and  roared  with 
laughter. 

"Boys,  your  wolf  is  a  mountain  lion/' 

Sure  enough  they  had  trapped  a  mountain  lion.  They 
shot  him  through  the  cracks  and  opened  the  trap. 
The  lion  had  devoured  both  pigs. 

"Boys,"  said  the  sheriff,  "I  will  excuse  you  this  time. 
If  the  trap  will  catch  a  lion  it  might  catch  The  Wolf/ 
So  you  had  better  bait  the  trap  again.  The  lion  will 
more  than  pay  for  the  pigs.  But  be  sure  and  look 
inside  before  coming  for  me  again/' 

He  rode  off  and  Jack  and  Joe  felt  beat. 

When  they  got  the  pelt  off  the  lion  they  felt  better. 
They  sold  the  pelt  and  with  the  bounty  netted  fifteen 
dollars.  For  three  dollars  they  bought  two  more  pigs. 
Then  they  were  ready  for  more  game. 

Autumn  had  come;  the  squirrels  were  storing  nuts 
for  winter.  Jack  and  Joe  were  up  the  creek  cutting 
dry  wood  for  the  long  winter.  They  took  no  dinner 

27 


THE  WOLF 

with  them  so  came|home^early.  When  inside  the 
clearing  Joe  clutched  Jack's  arm.  "Look,  the  trap  is 
thrown." 

They  do  not  think  of  catching  "The  Wolf"  hi  the  day 
time  and  looked  in  the  pen  expecting  another  lion. 
Jack  jumped  back  saying,  "Joe,  he  is  in  there  this  time, 
sure." 

Sitting  in  one  corner  was  the  wild  man. 
This  time  Jack  rides  after  the  sheriff.  ^When  he 
comes,  "The  Wolf"  puts  up  a  game  fight  but  is  over- 
powered and  tied  with  ropes.  The  sheriff  tied  him  on 
one  horse  and  as  he  started  he  turned  and  said,  "Boys, 
don't  forget  to  come  and  get  the  reward." 

Jack  and  Joe  felt  rich.  They  planned  to  buy  some 
young  colts  and  improve  the  ranch  with  the  money. 
The  wild  man  could  not  stand  confinement  and  after 
a  few  days  was  found  dead.  In  one  hand  was  a  package 
of  papers  closely  written  in  a  neat  hand  and  in  the  other 
was  a  pencil.  The  paper  read  thus: 

"They  say  I  am  mad.  If  so  be  it  the  whole 
world  is  mad.  Is  it  madness  to  live  in  Nature's 
forest  far  away  from  society's  deceitful  clutches? 
Nature  produces  food  and  I  eat  thereof.  Is  this 
madness?  I  did  not  always  look  like  this.  These 
bushy  locks  were  once  silky  and  smooth.  My 
hands  were  white  and  soft.  I  had  wealth  but  was 
robbed  by  a  crafty  guardian.  When  I  came  from 
school  I  was  forced  into  society.  Wine  was  passed 
around.  I  declined  and  was  laughed  at  so  I 

29 


ADVENTURES  AND  DAY  DREAMS 

drank  to  keep  up  appearances.  I  learned  to  like 
the  taste  of  liquors.  I  met  a  girl  that  I  loved  and 
adored.  One  night  I  took  her  to  a  ball.  I  drank 
too  much  wine  and  was  overcome.  Then  I  started 
to  go  home  and  met  my  love  on  the  stairs.  I  told 
her  to  go  home  with  me  and  she  declined.  I  gave 
her  arm  a  jerk.  She  fell  over  the  railing  to  the 
floor.  The  people  all  came  and  pushed  me  away. 
Someone  said,  'She  is  dead/  No.  No.  She  is  not. 
I  saw  them  carry  her  away  all  dressed  in  white. 
She  was  asleep.  She  will  some  day  wake  and  come 
to  me.  I  went  out  into  the  night  and  drank  more 
to  drown  my  grief.  Then  I  went  home  and  my 
guardian  drove  me  out.  He,  who  first  taught  me 
to  take  my  first  drink.  Then  he  had  me  shut  in  a 
mad  house.  May  the  Lord  judge  who  was  mad. 
He  or  I?  Ha!  Ha!  Then  I  fooled  them.  I 
escaped  and  left  the  city.  Far  away  from  society's 
maddening  clutches  where  they  play,  gamble  and 
drink  at  night  and  sleep  in  the  daytime.  'Tis  the 
idle  rich  that  is  mad.  Ha!  Ha!  I  fooled  them. 
They  stole  my  wealth,  but  I  have  more.  I  can 
buy  the  wealthiest  of  the  world.  I  know  of  a  cave 
under  a  cliff.  It  is  full  of  gold.  Some  days  I  go 
there  and  keep  bank.  Ha!  Ha!  Mad  world.  I 
alone  am  free — ' 

Written  on  the  back  of  the  package  was  the  dying 
man's  scrawl:  "See,  she  is  awakening.  She  is  coming 
to  me;  all  dressed  in  white.  Now  I  am  free." 

30 


ON  THE  TRAIL 

It  was  June  of  the  year  1884,  that  my  brother, 
Edward,  and  I  hired  to  the  Morey  Company  to  make 
the  big  drive  from  Oregon  to  Nebraska.  There  were 
four  of  us  to  drive  the  horses  and  we  each  got  forty-five 
dollars  a  month  and  board  with  the  exception  of  my 
brother,  who  was  to  oversee  the  crew  at  sixty  dollars 
a  month.  I  was  eighteen  then  and  my  brother  was 
ten  years  older. 

The  old  gentleman  Morey  drove  two  horses  on  a  light 
spring  wagon.  His  son,  Frank,  drove  four  horses  on  a 
light  wagon  and  hauled  our  bedding  and  provisions. 
There  was  a  cupboard  made  on  the  end  of  the  wagon 
and  when  the  doors  were  opened  it  formed  a  table. 
We  had  a  sheet-iron  stove  and  covers  on  the  wagons. 
Frank  was  to  do  the  cooking  and  he  would  go  on  ahead 
and  find  a  good  camping  place  with  plenty  of  grass 
(we  carried  our  drinking  water  in  a  barrel  on  the  side 
of  the  wagon) .  He  then  put  up  the  tent  and  had  supper 
ready  when  we  came  up  with  the  horses. 

We  never  went  over  twenty  miles  a  day  and  on  some 
days  only  eight  or  ten.  We  wanted  to  keep  the  horses 
fat  so  they  would  be  saleable  when  we  got  through. 

The  Moreys  were  in  the  hardware  and  machinery 
business  for  several  years,  and  had  a  good  many  bills 
out,  so  they  took  horses  whenever  they  could  settle 
the  debt.  The  others  were  bought  from  all  over 
eastern  Oregon  and  Washington^  so  we  naturally  had 

32 


ON  THE  TRAIL 

a  mean  bunch  of  horses  to  handle.  They  were  mostly 
small,  weighing  from  eight  to  twelve  hundred  pounds. 
There  were  two  hundred  and  twenty  in  the  bunch  and 
mostly  all  unbroke.  We  had  one  broke  saddle  horse 
each  when  we  started,  and  Mr.  Morey  said  we  could 
have  as  many  more  as  we  wanted  to  break. 

I  started  with  a  little  pinto.  He  was  gentle  and 
trusty  and  I  used  him  on  the  night  herd.  The  first 
one  I  broke  was  a  high-headed  white  Indian  pony. 
When  I  saddled  him  in  the  corral,  the  boys  all  watched 
for  the  show.  He  put  me  back  of  the  saddle  the  first 
jump.  The  boys  opened  the  corral  and  chased  him 
out.  I  soon  had  him  under  control  and  then  it  came 
my  turn  to  laugh  when  the  others  rode  their  first 
bronchos. 

The  next  was  a  fellow  named  Jim  Grant.  He  picked 
on  a  fine  looking  cream  colored  four-year  old.  She 
jumped  pretty  lively  in  the  corral  and  when  we  let 
her  out  she  bucked  down  the  hill  side  and  went  down 
in  a  badger  hole.  Jim  went  ten  feet  over  her  head. 
He  got  up  with  a  bad  knee  which  bothered  him  all  the 
trip. 

The  next  was  Bob  Spoon.  He  had  a  shady  character 
but  was  a  first-class  rider,  so  my  brother  hired  him. 
He  picked  a  buckskin  with  a  mean  head.  We  blinded 
him  until  Bob  got  on.  He  bucked  twice  around  the 
corral,  then  stood  on  his  hind  feet  and  fell  over  back- 
wards, but  Bob  was  too  quick  for  him  and  jumped 
clear.  He  went  backwards  three  times,  then  Bob 

33 


ON  THE  TRAIL 

gave  him  a  rap  between  the  ears  with  his  quirt  as  he 
was  coming  up  and  that  settled  him  for  that  trick. 

We  kept  breaking  until  we  each  had  eight  or  ten  to 
ride.  We  generally  changed  horses  twice  a  day.  The 
first  day  we  made  fifteen  miles  and  camped  at  night 
on  the  high  bunch  grass  lands  east  of  the  John  Day 
River.  We  had  a  hard  time  getting  the  horses  to 
swim  this  river.  We  bunched  them  in  the  water 
knee  high  and  all  shot  our  guns  in  the  air.  Some  of 
the  horses  jumped  in  swimming  water  and  the  rest 
followed  to  the  opposite  bank.  There  were  several 
colts  from  two  weeks  to  two  months  old  and  they 
floated  down  stream  and  landed  about  a  half  a  mile 
below  the  herd. 

The  first  night  we  drew  straws  to  see  who  would 
night  herd.  It  fell  to  Bob  and  Jim;  one  to  herd 
until  midnight  and  the  other  until  morning.  The 
second  night  we  camped  on  a  big  level  prairie.  I  took 
the  first  shift  from  six  until  twelve.  There  was  no 
moon,  but  the  stars  were  shining.  I  felt  pretty  lone- 
some as  I  took  Pinto  around  the  herd,  not  too  close 
as  I  might  waken  some  that  were  lying  down,  as  they 
might  drift.  I  learned  while  night  herding  that  the 
horses  get  uneasy  about  midnight  and  just  before 
daylight.  About  twelve,  I  heard  spurs  jingling  and 
was  mighty  glad  when  my  brother  rode  up.  I  went 
the  way  he  told  me  and  was  soon  in  camp.  I  was 
pretty  sleepy  and  I  tied  my  pony  by  the  side  of  the 
wagon  and  rolled  in  my  blankets.  In  the  morning 

35 


ON  THE  TRAIL 

the  boys  woke  me  and  said  my  horse  had  pulled  the 
stop  out  of  the  barrel  and  let  all  the  water  out,  so  we 
had  no  coffee  for  breakfast.  The  cook  and  all  the  rest 
were  in  ill  humor. 

The  second  week  out  Jim  and  Bob  planned  to  steal 
part  of  the  horses.  While  Bob  was  on  the  first  shift, 
he  split  the  herd  and  drove  about  fifty  head  down  into 
a  deep  canyon  where  Jim  met  him  later.  Then  they 
drove  towards  the  Columbia  River  where  they  expected 
to  cross  to  the  Washington  side.  In  the  morning  we 
did  not  see  Bob  rolled  in  his  blankets  as  usual,  so  my 
brother  went  to  the  herd  to  investigate.  He  soon  came 
back  as  fast  as  his  pony  could  run  and  said  that  the 
herd  was  scattered  and  the  boys  were  not  to  be  seen. 
Frank  had  been  looking  hi  the  wagon  and  said  that 
their  valuables  were  gone.  Then  we  were  suspicious 
and  all  rode  to  bunch  the  herd.  We  missed  forty  or 
fifty  head  and  Edward  and  I  rode  all  day  and  found  no 
clue  until  evening,  when  we  met  a  cowboy  from  the 
Willow  Creek  Ranch  who  said  he  had  seen  two  fellows 
driving  a  bunch  of  horses  towards  the  Columbia  River. 
We  persuaded  him  to  go  with  us  and  then  rode  to  the 
breaks;  then  down  the  river  trail.  Just  at  dusk  we 
came  up  to  Bob  and  Jim.  They  were  trying  to  swim 
the  horses  across  the  river.  When  they  saw  us  they 
rode  up  the  bluff  and  opened  fire  on  us.  We  exchanged 
shots,  but  it  was  getting  too  dark  to  see  good  and  only 
my  brother  got  a  slight  wound  hi  the  leg. 

We  move  two  miles  up  the  river  and  corraled  them 

36 


ADVENTURES  AND  DAY  DREAMS 

for  the  night,  then  sent  word  to  the  sheriff.  The  next 
day  we  drove  to  the  herd  and  my  brother  rode  to 
Pendleton  and  hired  two  more  boys. 

One  night  we  camped  on  the  edge  of  the  Umatilla 
Indian  Reserve  and  it  was  here  Bob  and  Jim  made 
their  second  attempt  to  drive  off  some  of  the  horses. 
They  got  some  of  the  young  Indian  bucks  to  help  by 
giving  them  whiskey.  One  of  the  new  boys  was  herd- 
ing and  we  heard  shooting  out  at  the  herd.  We  all 
saddled  and  rode  to  the  herd.  The  Indians  were 
scattering  it  every  way  and  it  was  hard  to  tell  the 
Indians  from  our  boys.  I  saw  a  fellow  driving  a  bunch 
from  the  herd  and  I  took  chances  and  fired.  His  horse 
went  down.  It  was  an  Indian  and  I  had  killed  his 
horse.  Bob  and  Jim,  with  some  of  the  Indians  were 
riding  towards  the  mountains  with  a  bunch  of  the 
horses  and  as  it  was  too  dark  to  follow  we  rounded  up 
the  herd  and  held  them  until  morning.  Then  Mr. 
Morey  went  to  the  agency  and  notified  the  agent. 

When  the  agent  came  we  took  up  the  trail  to  the 
mountains  and  came  to  four  of  the  Indians  holding  the 
horses  in  a  deep  ravine.  Bob  and  Jim  were  too  slick. 
They  had  left  the  Indians  on  watch  and  rode  away. 
The  agent  put  the  Indians  under  arrest  and  we  drove 
the  horses  back  to  the  herd.  We  were  shy  five  head 
when  we  made  a  count. 

F  The  next  morning  we  continued  the  drive.  About 
one  month  later  it  fell  my  lot  to  night  herd.  It  was 
up  near  Pouder  river  and  about  the  most  dismal  place 

38 


ON  THE  TRAIL 

I  was  ever  in.  An  owl  hooted  from  the  swamp  and 
the  coyotes  answered  him  from  the  hillside.  As  I 
rode  around  the  herd  a  colt  squealed  from  the  other 
side  and  the  mother  answered.  Then  they  were  all 
neighing.  The  bells  were  jingling.  They  were  on  the 
drift.  'Twas  dark  and  I  rode  fast  around  the  herd  and 
tried  to  hold  them.  Still  they  were  drifting  fast.  I 
thought  I  heard  someone  halloo  and  I  stopped  to  listen. 
It  was  Edward  who  rode  up  and  asked  me  where  I  was 
going.  I  replied  that  I  was  going  to  better  feed. 

It  proved  by  daylight  that  I  had  gone  two  miles. 
When  we  had  them  quiet  my  brother  said  that  I  could 
go  to  camp.  I  asked  him  where  camp  was  and  he 
showed  me  the  way  he  thought  was  right,  but  he  was 
wrong.  I  rode  for  half  an  hour  and  then  thought  the 
pony  might  know  the  way  so  I  dropped  the  rein  on  his 
neck.  He  turned  square  to  the  right  and  went  straight 
to  camp. 

We  had  had  so  much  bad  luck  that  the  Moreys 
concluded  to  ship  the  rest  of  the  way  so  that  the  first 
town  we  came  to  where  we  could  get  cars,  we  loaded 
the  horses  on  and  Edward  and  the  Moreys  went  through 
with  them.  The  new  boys  got  work  near  Baker  City 
and  I  had  to  take  the  trail  back  and  pick  up  the  horses 
we  had  lost. 

When  I  had  said  good-bye  and  the  train  had  pulled 
out  I  started  on  my  long  ride  back.  I  rode  a  little 
white  horse  called  Chub  which  proved  to  be  a  good 
one,  as  I  rode  him  all  the  way. 

39 


ON  THE  TRAIL 

When  near  the  Umatilla  Reservation  I  kept  my  eyes 
open  for  the  strays.  While  riding  down  the  Snake 
River  I  saw  someone  driving  horses  toward  the  river. 
He  looked  familiar  to  me  and  I  led  my  pony  to  the 
bank  and  waited  until  he  passed  by.  It  was  Bob  and 
when  he  was  out  of  sight  I  rode  to  the  nearest  ranch 
and  sent  word  to  the  sheriff,  then  rode  back  and  took 
Bob's  trail.  He  left  the  river  and  went  towards  the 
mountains.  Presently  he  seemed  to  be  looking  for 
someone  and  he  finally  let  the  horses  graze  and  laid 
down  on  the  grass. 

I  left  my  pony  and  crawled  near  enough  to  see  the 
brands  on  the  horses.  There  were  ten  head  and  three 
had  the  M  brand.  I  slipped  back  to  my  pony  and  rode 
towards  the  river  where  I  met  the  sheriff  and  two 
deputies.  I  led  them  back  on  the  trail  and  we  left  our 
horses  and  crawled  up  to  some  bushes.  Bob  and  Jim 
were  sitting  crosslegged  eating  a  lunch.  We  jumped 
out  and  ordered  hands  up  and  as  they  saw  we  had  the 
drop  on  them  they  held  up  their  hands.  The  sheriff 
took  them  to  Pendleton. 

I  took  the  three  M  horses  and  turned  them  over  to 
Morey's  friends.  Bob  and  Jim  served  their  time  at 
Salem. 

Edward  wrote  to  me  that  the  horses  were  sold  at  a 
good  profit.  This  concludes  my  experience  on  the 
M  drive. 


41 


THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  MIRROR 
LAKE 

It  was  the  fall  of  the  year.  The  grain  was  golden 
and  the  leaves  were  falling  when  the  wind  shook  the 
trees.  They  went  whirling  and  fluttering  more  like 
things  of  life  than  of  the  dead. 

I  was  visiting  my  old  chum,  Dave  Miller,  out  in 
Oregon.  We  were  lying  under  the  trees  down  by  the 
brook.  Dave  said,  "Bun,  how  would  you  like  to  make 
a  trip  over  the  mountains  into  a  little  valley  not  far 
from  here?" 

Bun  is  not  my  name,  but  only  a  nickname.  When 
I  was  in  school,  about  eight  years  old,  I  was  caught 
eating  a  bun  in  school  hours.  So  the  teacher  made  me 
stand  in  front  of  the  school  and  finish  it.  I  have  been 
Bun  ever  since. 

I  rise  and  bow  and  say,  "I  would  be  delighted  to  make 
the  venture." 

So  on  the  morrow  we  hitch  two  ponies  to  the  buck- 
board  and  head  towards  the  mountains. 

When  our  Creator  made  this  world  he  made  a  lot  of 
barren,  waste  land,  but  like  all  other  things  there  is  good 
to  offset  the  bad.  The  little  valley  of  the  Lake  Creek 
country  will  offset  some  of  nature's  barren  spots.  As 
we  drop  down,  down  the  trail  into  this  valley,  I  think 
how  much  nicer  it  would  be  if  we  could  go  sailing  over 
the  mountains  in  our  aeroplane,  then  circle  the  lake 

42 


ADVENTURES  AND  DAY  DREAMS 

and  light  like  some  huge  bird  by  the  clear  water.  Some 
day  it  may  be  done. 

We  are  getting  down  in  the  valley  now,  but  still  in 
the  timber.  Now  we  pass  a  sawmill  busy  sawing  up 
the  giant  trees.  A  little  farther  and  we  come  to  small 
farms.  The  crops  look  thrifty.  They  raise  wheat  and 
oats  and  clover  in  abundance.  Dave  points  out  dairy 
barns  along  the  way.  This  is  an  ideal  dairy  country. 

We  come  to  a  schoolhouse,  church,  store  and  post 
office.  This  is  where  mail  is  supplied  for  the  upper 
end  of  the  valley.  We  stop  here  over  night,  and  in 
the  morning  we  go  on  down  the  creek.  Dave  says 
we  will  soon  be  to  the  lake  now. 

We  enter  the  timber  and  come  out  again  in  sight  of 
the  lake  bathed  in  the  glorious  sunshine.  The  birds 
are  singing  glad  notes  to  the  new  born  day.  The  whole 
forest  world  mysteriously  enchanting  in  its  primeval 
grandeur. 

I  grab  Dave  by  the  arm  and  say,  "Sh!"  A  doe  and 
two  fawns  wade  into  the  water  and  stand  in  the  shallow 
waters.  Very  graceful  they  are  and  very  sensitive. 
Presently  the  old  doe  scents  danger  and  leads  her 
young  ones  into  the  deep  forest.  The  lake  is  called 
Triangle  lake  on  account  of  its  shape.  It  is  about  one 
and  a  half  miles  across  and  about  eighty  feet  deep. 
If  I  was  to  name  it  I  would  call  it  Mirror  Lake.  One 
sees  his  face  dancing  down  in  the  clear  water  and  you 
may  see  the  reflection  of  the  trees  at  the  bottom.  It 
is  surely  Nature's  mirror.  The  birds  come  in  the 

44 


THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  MIRROR  LAKE 

morning  and  looking  in  the  water  primp  and  preen 
their  feathers  with  as  much  pains  as  a  lady  in  her 
boudoir.  Now  a  jaunty  buck  comes  down  from  the 
mountains  and  takes  a  look  to  see  if  he  is  in  shape  to 
go  calling  on  his  lady  doe. 

From  here  Dave  says  it  is  about  thirty  miles  to 
tidewater  and  about  twenty-two  from  tidewater  to 
the  ocean.  Lumber  schooners  of  half  a  million  tonnage 
ply  in  and  out  since  the  work  of  the  new  jetty.  If  one 
enjoys  angling,  'tis  good  sport  to  go  on  the  lake  in  a 
canoe.  When  the  insects  are  dancing  about  over  the 
water  and  ofttimes  at  a  considerable  height  above  it, 
the  observer  may  be  quite  satisfied  that  these  are  the 
male  species  waiting  for  the  female  to  appear  and 
shortly  after  the  female  may  be  seen  flitting  over  the 
water  dipping  to  the  surface  and  rising  again  in  the 
act  of  depositing  her  eggs,  finally  coming  to  rest  only 
to  be  swept  away  to  her  depth.  Then  the  sportsman 
may  enjoy  fishing  on  the  lake.  If  you  prefer  to  fish  in 
swift  water,  just  paddle  down  the  lake  to  the  outlet 
and  then  down  stream  to  the  falls.  Here  the  water 
goes  mad,  rushing  over  the  rocks  with  a  roar,  always 
in  a  hurry,  finally  falling  over  the  abrupt  falls  to  the 
rocks  below  to  be  churned  white  with  foam.  About 
June  the  fish  will  be  found  in  the  broad  deep  water 
below  the  falls.  Here  one  can  go  out  on  a  fallen  tree 
or  overhanging  rock  in  the  shade  and  enjoy  the  sport. 

Around  the  lake  among  the  shady  trees  is  an  ideal 
place  for  camping  in  summer.  We  skirt  the  lake  and 

45 


THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  MIRROR  LAKE 

then  go  in  the  timber  again  to  come  out  in  sight  of  a 
smaller  lake  covering  about  twenty  acres.  This  is 
called  Little  Lake.  We  follow  up  a  clear  swift  stream 
until  we  come  to  a  little  valley  apart  from  the  larger 
valley.  Here  we  come  to  a  spot  most  beautiful  to 
behold.  I  just  catch  a  glimpse  of  a  white  house 
through  the  orchard.  A  pet  deer  is  nibbling  in  the 
garden.  The  dog  barks  and  the  owner,  Jesse  Most, 
an  old  friend  comes  out  and  welcomes  us. 

A  true  mountaineer  is  he.  Stout  and  sturdy.  He 
has  been  here  for  twenty-two  years.  When  he  took  his 
claim  it  was  a  forest.  Now  he  has  the  bottom  land  all 
cleared.  He  raises  all  kinds  of  grain,  fruit,  berries 
and  garden  truck.  He  has  his  barn  full  of  hay  and 
milks  six  good  cows  and  ships  his  cream.  There  is  a 
cream  wagon  which  makes  a  trip  once  a  week  through 
the  valley.  He  weighs  his  milk  and  knows  what  each 
cow  is  doing.  This  is  a  model  little  home.  The  water 
is  piped  from  the  spring  on  the  mountain  to  the 
kitchen  sink.  We  put  the  ponies  in  the  barn  and  go  in 
to  dinner,  when  a  beautiful  sight  greets  the  eye.  There 
is  a  row  of  deer  horns  clear  around  the  dining  room. 
There  are  twenty-seven  sets  from  the  small  spikes  to 
the  broad  antlers  of  some  monarch  of  the  forest.  The 
floor  is  adorned  with  bearskin  rugs.  Our  host  is  known 
far  and  near  as  a  good  shot  and  many  a  proud  beauty 
has  fallen  to  his  true  aim. 

Jesse  proposes  a  hunt  on  the  morrow,  so  we  are  up 
bright  and  early.  How  delightful  to  inhale  the  pure 

47 


ADVENTURES  AND  DAY  DREAMS 

fir-scented  forest  air.  We  go  up  the  mountain  and 
then  separate.  Jesse  goes  north  into  the  forest; 
Dave  up  the  ridge  to  the  east;  and  I  to  the  west.  I 
travel  over  logs  and  through  brush.  There  is  a  carpet 
of  moss  under  my  feet.  Here  the  salal  berries  and  the 
huckleberries  grow  in  abundance.  The  stillness  of  the 
forest  comes  over  me.  I  sit  down  on  a  fallen  tree  and 
listen.  The  big  firs  are  soughing  and  whispering  to 
each  other. 

My  thoughts  wander.  The  stillness  and  the  pure 
mountain  air  clears  my  brain.  I  see  the  past  as  if  it 
were  a  book  laying  before  me.  I  see  the  good  and  the 
bad  deeds  I  have  done  and  strange  it  may  seem  that 
the  bad  stand  out  before  the  good.  I  go  back  to  my 
early  school  days;  see  all  the  boys  and  girls  as  they 
were  then.  I  see  myself  and  my  seat  mate,  Bill  Moore, 
kept  in  after  school  hours  for  running  away  to  the 
creek  and  going  in  swimming.  Later  I  take  up  the 
work  on  the  farm,  as  my  older  brother  leaves  to  work 
for  himself.  A  few  years  later  I  turn  the  plow  over  to  a 
younger  brother  and  go  to  a  new  country  and  take  up 
government  land.  Finally  the  call  to  the  city  comes 
to  me.  I  sell  out,  move  to  the  city  and  go  into  business. 
I  am  swallowed  up  by  the  mad  rushing  business  world, 
always  striving  for  more  money,  with  no  rest,  no  pure 
air.  I  lock  up,  pack  my  suit  case  and  start  for  the 
country.  Crack!  a  limb  breaks  at  my  feet.  I  come 
to  reality  and  jump  to  my  feet.  A  deer?  No,  just  a 
squirrel  running  up  the  trunk  of  a  tree.  I  walk  on  into 

43 


A   Six    Prong    Buck 


THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  MIRROR  LAKE 

the  forest  and  come  face  to  face  with  a  five-pronged 
buck.  He  is  about  fifty  yards  away  and  standing  as 
still  as  a  statue.  The  most  beautiful  creature  I  ever 
saw,  sleek  and  glossy  with  big  round  eyes.  I  stand  and 
look  him  in  the  eyes  when  it  comes  to  me  suddenly  that 
I  am  hunting  deer  and  have  a  gun  under  my  arm.  My 
hand  begins  to  shake  (the  buck  fever) ;  I  raise  the  gun 
to  my  shoulder  when  lo!  the  buck  bounds  in  the  air 
like  a  bird  and  into  the  forest  he  goes.  My  gun  goes 
off  and  cuts  the  twigs  from  the  top  of  a  tree.  Now 
this  will  never  do  to  tell  the  boys,  so  I  will  tell  them 
I  crippled  a  buck  and  he  got  away.  I  hear  a  shot  to 
the  north,  so  I  go  that  way  until  I  come  into  a  clearing. 
Jesse  is  bending  over  a  four  pronged  buck.  He 
brought  him  down  with  the  first  shot.  He  uses  a  30-30 
with  telescope  sights.  He  showed  me  where  he  stood 
across  the  ravine.  It  was  two  hundred  yards  away. 

Dave  comes  in  from  the  east  ridge  and  Jesse  says, 
"By  the  way,  Bun,  I  heard  you  shoot.  What  did  you 
kill?" 

"Me?  I  shot  a  buck  and  crippled  him,  but  he  got 
away." 

"How  do  you  know  you  crippled  him,"  asks  Dave. 

"Oh,  I  saw  the  blood  along  the  trail.  See  where  I 
got  it  on  my  hand."  And  I  showed  them  where  I  had 
got  huckleberry  stains  on  it. 

The  boys  looked  at  each  other  and  I  believe  they 
doubted  me,  but  they  said  nothing. 

We  carried  the  buck  down  to  the  house  and  dressed 

50 


THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  MIRROR  LAKE 

him,  then  we  feasted  on  venison.  Surely  our  hostess 
knows  how  to  cook  venison,  for  I  can  close  my  eyes 
and  almost  taste  it  yet.  I  will  always  remember  the 
little  mountain  home. 

We  bade  our  friends  good-bye  and  followed  the  road 
down  to  tidewater.  After  camping  here  a  few  days, 
we  packed  up  and  started  for  home.  One  is  always 
sorry  to  turn  his  back  on  such  a  delightful  scene.  This 
country  has  a  future.  It  has  made  vast  improvements. 
It  was  first  settled  by  a  few  bachelor  trappers  about 
forty  years  ago  and  by  families  about  twenty-five 
years  ago.  Some  of  the  younger  ones  have  married 
and  raised  families  and  some  have  never  seen  the 
outside  world.  The  present  population  is  about  two 
hundred  and  seventy-five.  There  is  being  milked  at 
present,  about  three  hundred  dairy  cows.  These 
people  have  certain  laws  of  their  own  by  custom.  They 
are  contented  and  happy.  A  courageous  people  in  a 
little  world  of  their  own.  Some  day  the  falls  will  be 
harnessed  by  electricity.  Cars  will  run  to  the  outside 
world  and  a  new  life  will  be  born  to  this  little  valley. 
Then  it  will  pulse  in  union  with  the  outside  world. 


51 


UNCLE  BILLY'S  KID 

If  an  old  time  prospector  should  chance  to  read  this, 
he  may  remember  the  Raven  Gulch  mine  in  southern 
Oregon  in  the  Siskiyou  Mountains. 

It  was  a  warm  day  and  Uncle  Billy's  Kid  was  playing 
in  the  sand  by  the  creek.  Uncle  Billy  came  down  from 
his  mine  and  walked  down  the  creek  towards  his  cabin. 
He  is  tall  and  broad  of  shoulder.  His  sleeves  are 
rolled  up  and  his  breast  is  bare.  His  face  and  arms 
are  streaked  with  dirt  and  sweat.  His  beard  is  gray 
and  his  hair  is  long.  He  is  thinking  of  something 
perplexing  and  his  brows  are  drawn  together.  He 
comes  to  where  the  Kid  is  playing.  Then  his  face 
lights  up  and  he  stoops  to  swing  the  Kid  to  his  shoulder. 
As  they  pass  the  other  miners'  doors,  each  has  a  smile 
or  word  for  the  Kid. 

The  Kid,  as  you  might  suppose  is  not  a  boy,  but  a 
blue-eyed  girl  with  sunny  hair.  She  is  about  six  years 
old.  The  Kid  is  the  only  name  she  ever  knew  at  the 
camp.  The  miners  did  not  even  know  Uncle  Billy's 
name.  When  he  came  to  the  camp  two  years  before, 
with  the  little  girl,  he  told  them  his  name  was  Bill,  so 
they  fell  into  the  habit  of  calling  them  Uncle  Billy  and 
the  Kid.  The  Kid  was  the  idol  of  the  camp.  The 
miners  would  bring  her  flowers  and  build  her  play- 
houses. 

When  she  got  older  she  learned  to  do  Uncle  Billy's 

53 


ADVENTURES  AND  DAY  DREAMS 

cooking  and  kept  the  cabin  bright  and  clean.  In  the 
evenings  Uncle  Billy  would  teach  her  to  read  and  write. 

One  evening  there  was  a  newcomer  in  camp.  He 
told  the  miners  he  is  from  California  and  that  his  name 
was  Petro.  He  was  a  Spaniard.  The  next  day  after 
he  came  he  located  on  a  claim  just  above  Uncle  Billy's 
and  started  working  it.  The  miners  did  not  like  him 
very  well,  but  as  they  had  nothing  against  him,  they 
treated  him  civil. 

The  Kid  was  about  seventeen  then  and  very  attract- 
ive. She  was  slim  and  as  supple  as  a  young  deer. 
Petro  soon  was  in  love  with  her,  but  she  gave  him  no 
encouragement. 

Uncle  Billy  was  getting  old  and  lame  and  could  not 
work  much  in  the  mine. 

One  evening  the  miners  were  sitting  in  front  of  the 
stone  house  smoking  when  one  of  the  boys  from  the 
north  end  of  the  gulch  came  down  and  said  he  had  been 
robbed  of  his  dust.  Petro  was  loud  in  proclaiming 
what  they  ought  to  do  to  the  thief. 

On  the  morrow  the  miners  all  went  down  the 
gulch  to  help  Jensen  the  Dane,  with  some  frame  work 
in  his  mine.  The  Kid  was  sitting  in  front  of  her  door 
sewing  when  she  heard  a  roar  and  rumbling.  Then 
she  saw  a  cloud  of  dust  down  where  the  miners  are  at 
work.  She  feared  something  had  happened  at  the 
mines.  She  went  down  the  gulch  like  the  wind.  Her 
worst  fears  were  realized  for  there  had  been  a  slide  and 
the  mouth  of  the  mine  was  completely  closed.  They 

54 


UNCLE  BILLY'S  KID 

were  all  in  the  dark  earth.  All  that  were  dear  to  her. 
She  clawed  at  the  rocks  until  her  hands  bled.  0, 
something  must  be  done.  She  realized  that  she  was 
helpless  to  move  the  mass  of  rock  and  dirt.  She  would 
go  to  the  next  camp  over  the  mountain  for  help. 

She  ran  up  the  gulch  like  mad  with  her  hair  stream- 
ing over  her  shoulders.  Now  she  was  climbing  the 
mountain  trail  She  took  the  shorter  cut.  It  was 
rough  and  slow  traveling,  but  much  shorter.  At  times 
she  was  nearly  exhausted  and  sank  down  on  a  rock 
and  fanned  herself.  Then  rushed  madly  on  again. 
Will  she  be  too  late? 

t     t     t 

A  young  man  jumped  from  a  Broadway  car  in  New 
York  city,  crossed  the  street  and  entered  the  elevator 
saying,  "Fifth  floor."  He  had  just  finished  a  course  in 
college  as  mining  expert.  He  walked  to  the  door 
marked :  "127.  Fred  E.  Wilson,  Lawyer."  and  entered. 
Here  was  a  middle  aged  man  bending  over  his  desk. 

The  young  man  said,  "Well,  father,  am  I  late?" 

The  older  gentleman  jumped  to  his  feet  and  shook 
him  by  the  hand,  saying,  "No,  son  Alan,  you  are  on 
time.  I  have  the  contracts  all  ready  to  sign.  When 
do  you  start?  Tomorrow?" 

"Father,  I  am  waiting  with  growing  impatience  for 
my  active  duties  to  begin." 

"Well,  my  son,  here  are  the  papers.  May  the  Lord 
protect  you,  for  you  are  going  into  a  rough  country. 
And  remember  these  gentlemen  are  putting  confidence 

55 


ADVENTURES  AND  DAY  DREAMS 

in  you  to  trust  you  with -this  business.    Try  and  make 
good." 

"I  will  do  the  best  I  can,  father.  Good-bye." 
Young  Wilson  took  the  3.30  train  for  the  West.  He 
was  being  sent  by  capitalists  to  buy  mining  claims  in 
the  west.  He  arrived  in  San  Francisco  and  learned 
he  could  go  part  of  the  way  north  by  train.  When  he 
could  go  no  farther  by  train  he  bought  him  a  saddle 
horse  and  a  pack  horse.  He  came  to  many  mining 
camps,  but  did  not  make  a  deal  that  he  thought  would 
suit  his  company,  so  he  pushed  on  farther  north.  He 
had  been  on  the  trail  two  weeks  and  his  beard  had 
grown  until  he  began  to  look  like  a  prospector.  He 
had  just  left  one  camp  and  took  the  wrong  trail  which 
leads  him  over  the  mountain.  His  horse  was  picking 
his  way  with  head  down  when  he  snorted  and  wheeled 
about  nearly  throwing  Alan  to  the  ground.  He 
thought  of  Indians,  so  drew  his  revolver  and  wheeled 
his  horse. 

A  vision  greeted  his  eyes.  A  young  girl  was  running 
down  the  trail  towards  him,  her  arms  bare  and  her  hair 
streaming  in  the  wind.  He  saw  she  was  in  distress  and 
jumped  from  his  horse  and  ran  to  her.  She  was 
breathing  hard  and  it  was  sometime  before  she  could 
explain  to  him.  Then  the  mental  picture  of  the  girl 
taking  her  life  in  her  hands  and  braving  the  mountain 
trail  thrilled  him.  He  loosened  the  pack  and  put  her 
on  the  horse;  then  rode  back  to  the  camp  for  help. 
A  dozen  men  volunteered  to  go  to  Raven  Gulch.  They 

56 


UNCLE  BILLY'S  KID 

worked  most  of  the  night  before  hope  came.  Then 
one  of  the  miners  heard  voices  within  the  rocks.  The 
news  was  received  with  rejoicing.  Now  they  soon 
made  an  opening  and  crawled  in.  They  found  all 
alive  but  some  nearly  exhausted.  They  came  out  one 
at  a  time.  When  Uncle  Billy  came  out  the  Kid  threw 
her  arms  about  his  neck  and  wept. 

When  the  miners  learned  the  part  Alan  had  played 
in  their  rescue  they  greeted  him  with  a  hearty  hand- 
shake. There  was  one  who  came  from  the  dark  mine 
who  did  not  welcome  Alan.  It  was  Petro.  With  a 
jealous  eye  he  saw  in  Alan  a  rival  for  the  Kid's  hand. 

On  the  morrow  Alan  makes  his  business  known  and 
secures  an  option  on  three  claims,  including  Uncle 
Billy's.  'Tis  necessary  for  him  to  go  to  'Frisco  to  have 
some  papers  signed,  so  he  sets  off  on  his  journey. 

Petro  thought  to  improve  the  time  while  Alan  was 
away,  so  one  evening  he  asked  the  Kid  to  marry  him. 

She  said,  "No,  never." 

Then  Petro  said,  "You  will  never  marry  that  eastern 
dude.  I  am  going  away,  but  will  come  back.  Then 
you  will  marry  me." 

The  next  morning  Petro  was  gone.  So  was  the  dust 
from  several  cabins.  The  miners  tried  to  track  him, 
but  were  unsuccessful. 

Uncle  Billy  was  poorly  since  being  shut  in  the  mine, 
so  he  took  to  his  bed.  The  Kid  nursed  him  with  tender 
care.  He  told  her  one  night  he  thought  he  was  getting 
near  his  journey's  end,  and  gave  her  a  key  telling  her 

57 


ADVENTURES  AND  DAY  DREAMS 

when  he  was  gone  to  open  the  little  black  box.  One 
evening  Uncle  Billy  seemed  better,  so  she  left  him  in 
care  of  one  of  the  miners  and  went  up  the  gulch  to  pick 
some  flowers. 

She  heard  a  noise  and  looked  around.  A  blanket 
was  thrown  over  her  head  and  she  was  carried  off. 
It  was  Petro  and  he  took  her  to  where  he  had  two 
horses  and  tied  her  onto  one  of  them. 

Then  he  said,  "Now,  my  proud  beauty,  we  will  see  if 
you  won't  marry  me." 

Then  he  started  over  on  the  Rogue  River. 

One-half  of  the  world  does  not  know  what  the  other 
half  is  doing.  There  were  two  horsemen  heading  up 
the  trail  for  Deadman's  Pass.  One  from  the  south  and 
one  from  the  north.  The  one  from  the  south  stops  his 
horse.  He  is  leading  a  pack  horse.  'Twas  a  grand 
scene  before  him.  He  looked  down  on  the  Rogue 
River  as  it  twisted  through  the  mountain  like  a  huge 
snake.  Now  it  whirled  and  rushed  over  the  rocks, 
but  always  rushed  madly  on.  He  takes  off  his  hat  and 
cools  his  brow.  He  is  in  no  hurry  and  is  a  lover  of 
Nature's  work. 

Over  on  the  north  slope  the  horseman  too  has  a  pack 
horse;  or  is  it  a  pack.  It  looks  more  like  a  human 
being  tied  to  the  saddle.  This  rider  is  in  a  hurry.  He 
is  nervous  and  keeps  looking  back.  Now  they  are 
both  nearing  the  summit.  They  round  a  huge  rock 
and  come  face  to  face.  'Tis  Petro  and  young  Wilson. 

Petro  drew  his  gun  and  fired.    His  horse  jumped  and 

58 


UNCLE  BILLY'S  KID 

his  aim  was  not  true.    Then  a  cry  rang  out  over  the 
rocks  and  echoed  back,  "Alan,  Alan,  save  me." 

Alan  drew  his  gun  and  fired  twice.  Petro's  horse 
reared  and  fell  over  the  cliffs  to  the  rocks  below. 

Alan  cut  the  ropes  that  bound  the  Kid  and  took  her 
in  his  arms. 

When  they  look  over  the  cliffs  Petro  and  his  horse 
were  seen  mangled  on  the  rocks  below.  They  rode 
back  to  the  gulch.  The  miners  were  looking  every- 
where for  the  Kid.  Uncle  Billy  had  died  while  the 
Kid  was  away.  The  miners  made  a  grave  down  by 
the  creek  and  they  buried  Uncle  Billy. 

One  day  the  Kid  told  Alan  about  the  key  and  the 
little  black  box.  He  told  her  to  open  it.  She  did  so 
and  found  a  paper  marked,  "To  My  Niece."  She 
opened  it  and  read. 

"I,  William  Farrar,  of  New  York  City,  leave  all 
I  possess  to  my  niece,  Irene  Vivian  Farrar,  includ- 
ing my  claims,  stocks  and  bonds  in  New  York. 
Take  this  to  my  old  friend  and  lawyer,  Fred  E. 
Wilson,  at  ....  Broadway,  New  York  and  prove 
your  claims.  Now  a  word  as  to  why  I  have 
kept  you  in  this  out  of  the  way  place  so  long. 
Read  through,  and  I  hope  you  will  forgive  me. 
"At  about  four  years  of  age  you  were  given 
into  my  care  by  a  dying  widowed  mother.  I  had 
just  been  disappointed,  as  I  hope  you  never  will 
be.  I  loved  and  adored  a  society  girl,  but  she 
proved  to  be  false  and  fickle,. so  I  made  a  vow 

59 


ADVENTURES  AND  DAY  DREAMS 

that  I  would  take  you  away  from  society  until 

you  were  old  enough  to  seek  a  love  that  was  true 

and  pure." 

After  reading  this,  young  Wilson  said:  "Fred  E. 
Wilson  is  my  father.  Can  you  accept  a  love  that  I 
vow  is  pure  and  true?  And  we  will  go  together  to  my 
father's  house." 

Her  answer  was,  "I  forgive  Uncle  for  his  wish  has 
been  fulfilled." 

They  journeyed  to  New  York  City.  When  they 
arrived  in  the  city  Alan  left  Vivian  just  outside  his 
father's  office  door  and  walked  in.  "Well,  father,  I  am 
back.  I  bought  three  mines  and  in  one  I  found  a  jewel 
more  precious  to  me  than  gold.  May  I  show  you  the 
jewel?"  "Certainly,  my  son,  where  is  it?" 

Alan  opened  the  door  and  led  Vivian  in.  "Here  is 
the  jewel,  father.  She  has  promised  to  be  my  wife." 

The  old  man  said,  "I  welcome  you  as  a  daughter. 
Alan,  if  your  judgment  is  as  good  in  selecting  mines  as 
it  is  jewels,  'tis  needless  to  say  the  company  has  made  a 
good  investment." 

Further  surprise  awaited  Lawyer  Wilson.  When 
Miss  Farrar  produced  the  papers  her  Uncle  gave  her, 
he  read  them  and  said:  "Thrice  welcome.  You  are 
the  niece  of  my  old  friend  and  schoolmate."  On  the 
glad  Christmas  day  Alan  and  Vivian  were  married. 

Now  Vivian  shines  as  one  of  society's  beauties,  but 
to  the  miner's  of  Raven  Gulch  she  is  just  the  Kid, 
their  queen  who  reigned  with  gentle  hand. 

60 


FROM  THE  LIFE  OF  MAY, 
WE  PASS  TO  DECEMBER'S  GRAY 

Where  one  person  sees  sights  of  Nature  that  are 
pleasant  studies,  others  may  pass  by  without  a  thought. 
If  a  true  student  of  Nature  was  to  look  on  a  little  scene 
of  country  life  that  happened  long  ago  it  might  be 
interesting. 

A  long,  broad  lane,  bordered  on  each  side  by  a 
dilapidated  rail  fence,  overgrown  with  briers.  Scattered 
along  the  fence  are  a  few  white  oak  trees.  Just  under 
the  hill  stands  a  little  blue  school  house.  'Tis  a  long 
dusty  road  with  nothing  much  to  please  the  eye,  you 
might  say;  but  look  again.  Surely  there  is  something 
interesting. 

A  barefooted  boy  with  patched  clothes  and  freckled 
face,  and  a  barefooted  girl  in  a  pink  frock  with  two 
brown  braids  hanging  below  her  sunbonnet.  Both  are 
carrying  the  same  dinner  basket  home  from  school. 
Are  they  brother  and  sister?  We  only  see  their  backs, 
but  they  hardly  act  like  brother  and  sister.  Now 
they  stop  at  the  big  hazelnut  bush  at  the  crossroads. 
The  girl  takes  off  her  bonnet,  showing  a  bright  smiling 
face  with  a  dimple  in  either  cheek.  Her  nose  turns 
up  the  least  bit  and  her  eyes  are  brown.  Surely  they 
must  be  sweethearts. 

The  boy  says,  "Katie,  hold  your  basket  while  I  climb 
up  and  throw  the  nuts  down." 

61 


ADVENTURES  AND  DAY  DREAMS 

She  is  laughing,  "Look  out,  Tom,  you  will  fall/* 

"Would  you  care,  Katie,  if  I  did?" 

"No,  not  unless  you  got  hurt  real  bad.  Tom,  the 
basket  is  full.  Do  come  down." 

"You  can  have  them  all,  Katie." 

"No,  no,  you  take  half  of  them."  She  fills  his  dinner 
bucket  and  then  runs  down  the  crossroad.  His  home 
is  the  other  way  and  he  stands  and  watches  her  until 
she  is  lost  in  the  trees,  then  he  hurries  home  for  he  has 
cows  to  bring  home  and  garden  to  hoe. 

The  next  morning  he  waits  at  the  crossroads  until 
she  comes.  She  passes  by  pretending  not  to  see  him. 
Then  he  slips  up  behind  her  and  pulls  off  her  bonnet. 
She  chases  him  down  the  road  and  thus  we  see  them  in 
their  early  schooldays. 

t     t     t 

Katie  Lee  and  Tom  Garden  are  now  older.  They 
wear  shoes  and  are  more  bashful  when  together.  One 
night  Katie  walked  home  with  Don  King  from  across 
the  creek.  The  next  day  Tom  would  not  look  at  her. 

When  Tom  is  about  seventeen  and  Katie  sixteen, 
Tom's  parents  move  to  the  east. 

Before  leaving,  Tom  calls  on  Katie  one  evening  and 
they  walk  in  the  garden.  He  gives  her  a  locket  with  a 
picture  of  himself  and  a  ring.  There  is  no  affected 
coyness  in  her  demeanor.  She  is  a  child  of  Nature 
yielding  to  the  sweet  impulse  of  a  first  love  and  pro- 
claiming her  passion  of  an  innocent  and  confiding 
spirit,  she  gives  him  an  old  fashioned  tintype  of  herself. 

62 


FROM  THE  LIFE  OF  MAY 

They  part  with  promises  of  frequent  communication 
by  letter  and  most  affectionate  remembrance.  Tom 
promises  that  when  he  gets  rich  he  will  come  after  her. 

Tom  gets  a  position  in  one  of  the  cities  of  the  east 
and  works  hard  to  win  fame.  In  the  stillness  of  the 
evening  when  he  is  left  alone  he  writes  to  his  Katie 
telling  her  how  he  is  prospering. 

Don  King  makes  a  visit  to  relatives  in  the  city  and 
calls  on  his  old  schoolmate,  Tom  Gordon.  They  talk 
over  bygone  days  until  late.  When  Don  leaves  Tom 
gives  him  a  letter  to  mail  addressed  to  Katie.  He 
had  written  telling  her  he  would  soon  come  after  her. 

But  now  the  happiness  of  these  lovers  is  sadly  crossed. 
Don  is  jealous  of  Tom  and  he  takes  this  chance  to  win 
Katie  away  from  him,  so  he  destroys  the  letter  and 
tells  Katie  when  he  gets  home  that  Tom  is  engaged  to 
a  girl  in  the  city. 

Tom  waits  in  vain  for  the  answer  that  never  comes. 
He  is  too  proud  to  write  again,  so  he  busies  himself 
in  his  works  and  after  years  has  acquired  wealth. 

Dear  reader,  is  a  woman's  love  less  lasting  than  a 
man's?  Don  and  Katie  are  married. 

Now  a  great  longing  comes  to  Tom  to  see  his  old 
home  and  Katie,  so  he  goes  to  the  west.  When  he  gets 
to  his  old  home  he  finds  changes.  He  passes  where 
the  little  blue  schoolhouse  stood.  It  has  been  torn 
down  and  a  brick  stands  in  its  place.  As  he  looks  at 
the  familiar  scenes,  sweet  memories  come  to  him; 
then  the  uncertain  glory  of  an  April  day  which  now 

63 


ADVENTURES  AND  DAY  DREAMS 

shows  all  the  beauty  of  the  sun;  and  by  and  by  a  cloud 
takes  all  away. 

He  goes  to  the  crossroads.  The  old  hazelnut  bush  is 
still  there.  He  sits  in  its  shade.  A  stranger  rides  by 
and  Tom  asks  him  if  he  knows  the  Lees  that  used  to 
live  close  by. 

The  stranger  answers,  "Yes,  I  used  to  go  to  school 
with  the  daughter,  Katie." 

With  surprise  Tom  jumps  to  his  feet  saying,  "Say, 
are  you  Lem  Brown?" 

"I  am,  sir,  but  I  do  not  remember  you." 

"What,  don't  you  remember  your  old  seatmate, 
Tom  Gordon?" 

"So  you  are  Tom.  Shake,  old  boy.  How  you  have 
changed.  You  were  asking  about  the  Lee  family. 
They  have  all  moved  away  except  Katie.  She  is 
married  to  Don  King.  She  has  two  children.  They 
live  down  on  the  creek  road." 

This  is  a  blow  to  Tom.  He  exclaims:  "Oh!  I 
trusted  a  friend  and  he  deceived  me.  While  striving 
for  wealth,  the  love,  the  light  of  my  life,  I  neglected. 
I  have  gained  wealth  and  fame.  And  now  I  wish  that 
I  could  forget  her  name.  I  wish  she  were  in  heaven. 
If 'she  could  but  entreat  some  power  there  to  change 
the  cruel  law  that  binds  her  to  a  false  friend.  May  it 
please  her  memory  to  remember  me  a  dream  of  the 
past.  She  is  a  wife  and  mother  now.  To  make 
myself  known  would  not  bring  happiness  but  sorrow. 

64 


FROM  THE  LIFE  OF  MAY 

My  dear  friend,  may  it  never  be  known  that  I  was  here 
in  the  flesh." 

Lem  assures  him:  "Dear  Tom,  your  secret  shall  be 
sealed  in  my  heart  and  remember  as  we  used  to  stand 
by  each  other  in  our  school  days,  so  shall  we  in  old  age." 

Tom  thanks  Lem  warmly  for  his  kindness  and  goes 
in  haste  to  the  east  again. 

As  Father  Time  sways  his  scythe  there  are  many 
changes.  Let  us  now  take  a  look  into  two  different 
houses;  one  in  the  east  and  one  in  the  west. 

In  the  west  we  see  a  brown-eyed  mother  getting  two 
children  ready  for  school.  One,  a  grey-eyed  boy  of 
twelve  she  calls  Thomas  and  the  other  a  brown-eyed 
girl  about  fifteen.  When  they  are  gone  down  the  road 
side  by  side,  both  carrying  the  dinner  basket,  she  goes 
into  the  house  and  takes  from  a  drawer  a  locket  and 
looks  at  it  a  long  time. 

In  the  east  we  go  to  the  business  part  of  the  city  and 
read  over  the  door,  "Thomas  Gordon."  We  peep  into 
a  richly  furnished  room  and  see  a  gray  haired  man 
sitting  at  a  desk.  He  is  holding  an  old  tintype  of  a 
brown-eyed  girl  Hark!  what  is  he  saying.  "You 
swore  to  me  when  I  gave  you  the  ring  that  you  would 
keep  it  until  the  hour  of  death  and  now  you  have  put  it 
aside  and  taken  another."  As  he  looks  he  sees  more. 
He  sees  a  little  blue  school  house,  a  barefoot  boy  and  a 
barefoot  girl  coming  down  the  lane  carrying  the  same 
dinner  basket.  He  sees  the  life  of  May  from  his  life  of 
December's  gray. 

65 


TRUE  TO  HIS  PROMISE 

A  memorable  event  was  about  to  happen  in  a  little 
village  in  one  of  the  eastern  states.  The  whole  popu- 
lation was  out  en  masse  to  witness  the  event.  Two 
trains  were  about  to  leave  for  the  far  west.  It  was 
something  very  unusual  in  the  little  village.  These 
were  wagon  trains  pulled  by  oxen.  They  were  headed 
for  the  Pacific  Coast  to  make  homes  in  the  new  west. 

Going  in  one  train  was  a  family  by  the  name  of 
Wright;  father,  mother  and  two  children;  Mable, 
about  fifteen  years  old  and  Stanley  who  was  nineteen 
years  old.  Good-byes  had  been  said ;  the  ox  teams  had 
started;  Stanley  lingered.  He  was  bidding  good-bye 
to  his  sweetheart,  Bern  ice  Doile. 

"Dear  Stanley,"  said  she,  "I  would  that  I  could  go 
with  you,  but  mother  is  so  poorly,  my  duty  is  with  her." 

"Good-bye,  Bernice.  When  I  have  made  a  home  I 
will  come  and  claim  your  hand  and  take  you  and  your 
mother  to  the  far  west." 

She  stood  on  the  hillside  and  looked  back;  the  earth 
lay  at  her  feet  and  the  sky  fell  about  her  fair  head. 
He  sees  her  standing,  a  lonely  figure  in  a  lost  world. 
She  raised  her  head  and  said,  "Good-bye,  and  God 
bless  you." 

When  he  gets  to  the  bend  in  the  road  he  looks  back, 
and  seeing  Bernice  waving  her  handkerchief  he  takes 
off  his  hat  and  waves  back. 

66 


TRUE  TO  HIS  PROMISE 

Stanley's  father  was  appointed  captain.  There  were 
hostile  Indians  along  the  trail.  Stanley  and  some  of 
the  other  boys  often  go  ahead  as  scouts  to  see  that  the 
way  is  clear.  They  spend  many  weary  months  crossing 
the  plains.  Winding  their  way  slowly  along  the  trail 
through  Idaho  a  bunch  of  Indians  came  like  a  whirlwind 
around  a  bluff  and  ride  straight  towards  them.  They 
stop  within  a  hundred  yards  of  the  train.  Captain 
Wright  lays  down  his  gun  and  goes  barehanded  to  meet 
them.  It  is  evident  enough  from  their  expressions 
that  this  is  a  degree  of  boldness  to  which  they  were 
unaccustomed.  It  is  evident  also  that  they  are 
unprepared  to  meet  such  actions.  Captain  Wright 
remained  silent  with  his  usual  placidity. 

Finally  the  chief  patted  his  stomach  and  said, 
"Hungry;  eat." 

Said  Captain  Wright,  "I  give  you  food.  Will  you  go? 
Stanley,  bring  some  bacon  and  tobacco." 

When  it  is  brought,  the  chief  said,  "How."  Then 
they  mount  their  ponies  and  ride  away. 

"Boys,"  said  Captain  Wright,  "we  will  have  to  keep 
a  good  watch  tonight." 

They  were  not  molested  that  night,  although  the 
scouts  reported  Indians.  They  were  being  followed  by 
the  redskins. 

Near  Walla  Walls  they  are  surrounded  by  Indians 
and  all  massacred  except  two.  Stanley  saved  himself 
by  a  trick.  He  took  the  blanket  from  a  dead  Indian. 

67 


ADVENTURES  AND  DAY  DREAMS 

Wrapping  himself  in  it  he  goes  towards  the  river  and 
hides  behind  a  rock. 

Captain  Wright  sees  his  wife  and  daughter  butchered 
by  the  redskins.  Himself  wounded  in  the  arm,  he 
staggers  towards  the  river.  The  air  cools  his  brain, 
so  he  stands  in  the  late  night  and  thinks.  His  great 
chest  heaves  with  his  breathing,  so  that  his  gray  beard 
rises  and  falls.  His  big  hands  are  clenched  as  if  to 
strike  down  some  lurking  redskin  and  his  eyes  stare 
wide  into  the  darkness.  Like  a  rushing  dream  full  of 
wheeling  and  flashing  lights  the  strange  and  awful 
incidents  sweep  into  his  brain.  He  thinks  he  sees  an 
Indian  hiding  behind  a  rock.  He  picks  up  a  rock  and 
raises  his  arm  to  crush  his  skull  when  up  rises  his  son, 
Stanley,  letting  the  blanket  fall  to  the  ground. 

"My  boy!   Thank  God  I  have  one  left." 

"Come,  father,  to  the  river  and  I  will  dress  your 
arm." 

"Son,  I  had  almost  given  up  when  I  found  you." 

"We  had  better  get  as  far  from  here  as  we  can  by 
morning." 

"You  are  right,  Stanley.  Let  us  go  down  the  river. 
What  have  you  with  you.  I  have  my  Colt  revolver  and 
this  old  silver  watch." 

"I  have  a  small  water  can,  a  hunting  knife,  three  dry 
biscuits  and  the  Indian  blanket." 

After  traveling  several  hours  it  began  to  get  daylight, 
so  they  look  for  a  place  to  stop  through  the  day. 

"Father,  see  the  natural  cave  under  yonder  wall. 

68 


TRUE  TO  HIS  PROMISE 

We  have  found  just  the  place  where  we  can  rest  safely 
today." 

They  spread  the  blanket,  covering  themselves  with 
their  coats  and  are  soon  fast  asleep.  Towards  evening 
Stanley  awoke  and  went  out  to  the  river.  He  soon 
came  running  back  saying,  "I  saw  a  fish  jumping  the 
riffles.  I  have  heard  that  the  Indians  catch  them  as 
they  go  up.  I  will  make  a  net  of  my  overshirt  and 
try  for  one.  You  go  out  and  get  a  willow  pole  with  a 
fork  on  one  end  and  a  small  willow  to  make  the  hoop 
while  I  make  a  net." 

He  tore  his  shirt  into  strings  and  wove  it  into  a  small 
net.  This  he  lashed  to  the  hoop  and  tied  the  hoop  to 
the  forked  end  of  the  pole  and  went  where  the  water 
was  narrow  and  swift.  He  dipped  the  net  several  times. 

It  was  jerked  nearly  from  his  hands.  He  had  dipped 
one  too  big  for  the  net.  It  flopped  out  but  soon  he 
caught  another  and  landed  him.  It  was  a  nice  salmon 
weighing  about  six  pounds.  He  ran  to  the  cave  and 
said,  "Build  a  fire  while  I  dress  the  fish." 

When  it  was  dressed  he  wrapped  it  in  some  green 
leaves  and  baked  it  in  the  coals.  They  feasted  on 
baked  salmon  without  salt  and  one  hard  dry  biscuit. 

"Come,  Stanley,"  Mr.  Wright  said  finally,  "it  is 
getting  dark  and  we  will  have  to  travel  again." 

"I  will  take  the  net  along  as  we  will  want  more  fish." 

On  the  next  day  towards  evening  they  come  to  the 
mouth  of  the  John  Day  River.  Here  they  see  a  man 
in  a  canoe. 

69 


ADVENTURES  AND  DAY  DREAMS 

Captain  Wright  calls,  "Are  you  friend  or  foe?" 

"I  am  Duree,  the  French  trapper.  I  am  friend  to 
the  whites  and  called  friend  by  the  Indians/' 

Captain  Wright  traded  his  old  silver  watch  to  Duree 
for  him  to  take  them  to  Fort  Dalles.  When  near  the 
fort,  Duree  takes  them  to  his  hut  for  the  night.  Here 
they  meet  Duree's  daughter,  Jeanne,  the  beautiful  half- 
breed.  They  spend  the  night  on  some  furs  by  the  fire 
and  in  the  morning  go  to  Fort  Dalles. 

While  there  the  Indians  make  an  attack  on  the  fort, 
but  are  driven  away. 

After  a  few  days,  not  seeing  any  Indians  about,  the 
Wrights  start  down  the  river  in  an  old  canoe.  When 
near  the  Cascades  they  are  attacked  by  Indians. 
Stanley  is  wounded  in  the  arm,  but  jumps  into  the 
water  and  swims  to  a  rock  in  the  middle  of  the  river. 
His  father  floated  down  to  the  rapids  where  the  canoe 
is  turned  over  and  he  is  drowned. 

It  was  getting  dark  and  Stanley  was  chilled  through 
and  nearly  exhausted.  There  were  other  eyes  keener 
than  the  Indians'  that  had  been  watching  him.  As 
it  grew  darker,  a  little  canoe  slipped  noiselessly  down 
stream  and  landed  against  the  rock.  Stanley  raised 
his  head  when  a  soft  voice  whispered,  "Sh!"  It  was 
Jeanne.  She  helped  him  into  the  canoe  and  paddled 
up  stream.  It  was  a  long  weary  pull.  She  finally 
landed  near  the  hut  and  helped  Stanley  up  the  bank 
and  into  the  hut. 

The  next  morning  Stanley  has  a  fever  and  he  lays 

70 


TRUE  TO  HIS  PROMISE 

for  weeks  and  is  nursed  by  the  faithful  Jeanne.  While 
delirious  he  would  take  her  hand  and  calling  her  his 
Bernice  would  tell  her  he  would  ever  be  true  to  her. 
Jeanne  does  not  understand  English  very  well,  so  she 
takes  all  in  earnest.  When  he  is  convalescing  he  reads 
love  in  her  eyes.  They  go  down  on  the  rocks  by  the 
river  and  he  teaches  her  to  speak  English  and  she 
teaches  him  French  in  return.  Thus  they  pass  many 
happy  days  together. 

One  day  Duree's  partner,  Soto,  came  up  from  Astoria. 
He  is  a  large,  dark,  heavy-browed  man.  While  Duree 
and  Jeanne  are  out  he  comes  in.  Stanley  pretends  to  be 
sleeping.  Soto  comes  across  the  room  and  bends  over 
him,  then  slips  across  the  room  and  pulls  a  rock  from 
the  wall  and  takes  out  a  bag.  He  slips  this  in  his  shirt, 
replaces  the  rock  and  goes  out. 

Stanley  is  getting  strong,  so  he  moves  over  to  the  fort. 
There  he  secures  a  job  with  the  Hudson  Bay  Company 
at  Astoria.  He  often  wondered  what  kind  of  an  image 
rises  in  most  people's  minds  at  the  words  Hudson  Bay 
Company.  Likely  it  is  of  an  Indian  clad  in  beads  and 
furs  setting  traps  by  a  lonely  lake  or  stream  or  driving 
a  team  of  wolf  dogs  across  miles  of  snow;  or  of  a 
Scotchman  inside  a  log  fort  holding  a  flint  lock  upright 
on  the  ground  while  the  feathered  tribe  trade  for  it  by 
piling  beaver  skins  up  to  its  muzzle.  Such  a  sketch  is 
nearly  true.  About  1670,  wool  shirts  replaced  rawhide, 
felt  hats  took  the  place  of  feathered  headgear  and  the 
price  of  guns  and  ammunition  dropped  for  the  Company 

71 


ADVENTURES  AND  DAY  DREAMS 

has  always  been  master  of  the  northwest  country. 
It  was  the  Company's  power  over  the  Indians  that 
made  them  riches.  For  instance,  the  text  and  key- 
stone of  the  Company's  supremacy  for  centuries  has 
been,  hold  the  Indians  in  debt  by  advances  of  traps 
and  just  the  rations  at  the  proper  price  to  keep  him 
always  hungry;  so  he  must  hunt  for  them. 

As  Stanley  goes  down  the  river  in  his  canoe  he  sees 
two  men  in  a  canoe  ahead.  It  is  Duree  and  his 
partner.  Duree  is  rowing  with  his  back  to  Soto. 
So  to  raises  something  and  strikes  Duree  on  the  head. 
He  falls  forward  and  Stanley  gives  chase  in  his  canoe. 
Soto  throws  Duree  into  the  water  and  starts  rowing. 
Stanley  fired  twice  and  at  the  second  shot  Soto's  right 
oar  falls.  He  had  broken  his  arm.  Stanley  then 
turns  and  looks  for  Duree  and  pulls  him  in  the  canoe 
and  works  over  him  until  he  comes  to  life  again.  He 
looks  for  Soto  and  sees  him  drifting  over  the  rapids. 
His  oars  gone,  one  arm  broke,  no  man  could  pass 
through  alive  in  that  condition.  Stanley  takes  Duree 
home  and  tells  him  about  Soto  taking  the  bag  from  the 
wall.  The  Frenchman  looks  behind  the  rock  and  said, 
"I  have  been  robbed  by  that  scoundrel."  Then  he 
takes  Stanley  by  the  hand,  saying:  "You  have  saved 
my  life  this  day.  Duree  will  never  forget.  Name 
your  reward." 

Stanley  looks  at  Jeanne  and  their  eyes  meet.  He 
turns  to  Duree.  A  vision  comes  before  his  eyes.  It 
is  a  blue-eyed  girl  waving  goodbye  to  him.  He  stam- 

72 


TRUE  TO  HIS  PROMISE 

mers  to  Duree,  "I — I  would  prefer  my  father's  old  silver 
watch  to  anything  else." 

"'Tis  yours,  my  boy,  and  welcome." 

He  bids  Jeanne  and  her  father  good-bye  and  starts 
again  down  the  river.  It  is  a  long  lonesome  trip  by 
canoe.  He  packs  around  the  cascades  and  then  goes 
on  down  the  grand  old  Columbia  with  nothing  but 
the  dense  forest  on  either  side.  It  takes  him  weeks 
to  make  the  trip. 

He  worked  four  years  for  the  Hudson  Bay  Company 
and  then  quit  and  took  up  a  claim  near  Portland.  He 
built  a  house  on  the  bank  of  the  Willamette  River  and 
cleared  a  garden  patch. 

Spring  had  come,  and  beneath  the  rare  perfume  of 
spring  in  the  forest  the  night  air  lay  soft  and  the  gentle 
breeze  of  evening  stirred  the  topmost  leaves  of  the 
towering  trees.  He  sits  in  his  cabin  door  thinking. 
On  the  morrow  he  will  go  to  Fort  Dalles  on  business 
and  then  go  east  to  claim  his  bride. 

So  it  was  that  he  met  Jeanne  again.  His  heart  is 
with  her,  but  his  word  of  honor  is  given  to  Bernice. 
He  walks  with  Jeanne  out  to  the  rock  overlooking  the 
Columbia.  There  he  tells  her  he  is  going  east  to  marry 
the  girl  he  has  promised  to  wed.  She  gives  him  one 
long  look.  Said  she,  "I  wed  you  in  death."  Then 
she  turns  with  her  dark  hair  streaming  over  her 
shoulders  and  plunges  into  the  Columbia.  How  clear 
she  makes  it  to  him.  Her  words  open  a  vivid  scene. 
He  sees  the  day,  the  darkness.  He  hears  the  roar  of 

74 


TRUE  TO  HIS  PROMISE 

the  waves.    His  Jeanne  is  no  more.    Trappers  find  her 
body  some  days  later  on  the  rocks  below  the  rapids. 

Stanley  goes  east  and  marries  Bernice  and  brings 
her  and  her  mother  to  his  new  home.  She  never  knew 
how  near  he  came  to  breaking  his  promise. 


75 


NELL 

IT  WERE  BETTER  SO 

Firefly  felt  gay  this  cool  autumn  morning.  He 
pranced  over  the  turf  with  pride.  His  rider  too  felt 
gay.  He  was  humming  a  cowboy  song  as  he  rode 
towards  Tub  Springs.  He  rounded  the  bluff  near  the 
spring  and  Firefly  wheeled  with  a  snort  and  a  buck, 
nearly  unseating  his  rider.  The  song  was  cut  short. 

"Confound  you,  Firefly.  The  devil  is  in  you  this 
morning." 

Bob  Deering  wheeled  his  horse  to  see  the  cause  of 
fright.  Then  he  laughed  and  slapped  his  horse  on  the 
neck. 

"Old  boy,  you  are  in  mettle  to  scare  at  a  toad  this 
morning." 

The  toad  (a  little  girl  about  six  years  old;  was  coming 
towards  them  from  the  spring.  Up  near  the  bluff  was 
a  covered  wagon.  Tied  to  the  wheel  was  a  mule  and 
an  old  gray  horse.  As  Bob  came  up  near  the  little  girl 
said:  "I  am  so  hungry  and  papa  won't  get  up." 

Bob  got  down  and  led  her  by  the  hand  to  the  wagon. 
A  man  lay  on  some  quilts  moaning.  Bob  needed  but 
a  glance  to  see  he  was  a  very  sick  man.  He  hunted 
around  for  something  for  the  little  girl  to  eat,  but 
could  find  nothing  fit,  so  he  took  her  on  his  horse  and 
rode  back  to  the  ranch  and  told  his  housekeeper  to 

77 


ADVENTURES  AND  DAY  DREAMS 

give  her  food.  He  then  sent  one  of  the  boys  after  a 
doctor. 

When  the  little  girl  was  done  eating,  he  takes  her 
back  to  the  wagon.  Soon  the  docter  came  and  they 
did  all  they  could  for  the  sick  man,  but  he  was  past  all 
earthly  help  and  passed  to  the  beyond.  They  looked 
for  papers  to  identify  the  dead,  but  could  find  nothing. 
If  it  could  be  that  he  was  trying  to  hide  his  identity, 
he  had  done  his  work  well. 

Bob  asked  the  little  girl  her  name  and  she  said, 
"Nell." 

"What  is  your  papa's  name?" 

"Jim." 

"But,  what  else?    He  has  another  name,  hasn't  he?" 

"No,  just  Jim."    Then  she  began  to  cry. 

The  doctor  said,  "Deering,  you  had  better  look  after 
the  child,"  and  then  rode  away. 

Bob  took  Nell  on  his  horse  and  started  back  to  the 
ranch.  His  thoughts  were  running  something  like 
this:  "I  am  in  a  dickens  of  a  fix.  What  will  I  do  with 
this  little  toad.  Well,  someone  will  have  to  look  after 
her,  sure.  I  will  leave  her  with  the  housekeeper  until 
something  turns  up."  He  spurred  up  Firefly  and  was 
soon  at  the  ranch. 

He  called,  "Halloa." 

Mrs.  Hull,  a  middle-aged  woman  came  to  the  door 
and  he  said,  "Here  take  care  of  this  little  toad.  Her 
dad  has  passed  in  his  checks." 

The  next  day  the  cowboys  buried  the  dead  man  and 

78 


NELL 

pat  up  a  board  with  these  words  on  it:  "Jim.  He  died 
Nov.  15th,  1882.  History  unknown." 

Bob  advertised,  but  got  no  word  concerning  Nell. 

When  Bob  came  home  in  the  evening  little  Nell  came 
to  meet  him  with  a  clean  dress  on  and  her  hands  and 
face  washed,  with  a  mass  of  curls  about  her  head  in 
little  rings  of  nut-brown  color.  Her  eyes,  the  most 
beautiful  part  of  her — but  for  the  life  of  him  Bob 
could  not  describe  the  color  and  no  two  would  hardly 
agree.  Bob  wondered  that  he  had  not  noticed  before 
that  she  was  a  beautiful  child. 

Five  years  passed  and  little  Nell  is  yet  a  feature  on 
the  big  cattle  ranch  owned  by  Bob  Deering;  Dandy 
Bob,  the  boys  call  him,  because  he  kept  his  saddle  and 
outfit  so  neat  and  always  rode  a  horse  with  such  snap 
and  vim.  Nell  called  him  Uncle  Bob.  He  had  taught 
her  to  ride  and  she  had  a  gentle  pony  she  always  rode 
to  the  office  at  Cold  Camp  every  evening  for  the  mail. 

One  evening  Nell  was  waiting  for  the  mail  train  at 
the  station.  She  was  sitting  on  a  box  near  the  track 
swinging  her  whip  when  the  train  stopped.  There 
was  a  couple  looking  out  of  the  window.  The  woman 
looked  straight  at  Nell  and  then  turned  to  her  male 
companion  as  the  train  pulled  out. 

The  next  day  on  the  morning  train  back  a  man  and 
a  woman  got  off  at  Cold  Camp.  They  went  to  the 
hotel  and  said  they  were  looking  for  a  stock  ranch. 
Just  before  evening  they  hired  a  team  from  the  stable 
and  drove  out  towards  Tub  Springs. 

79 


ADVENTURES  AND  DAY  DREAMS 

Bob  came  in  from  the  barn,  washed  and  called  for  his 
mail. 

Mrs.  Hull  told  him,  "Nell  has  not  come  home  yet. 
I  guess  the  train  must  be  late  again." 

One  of  the  boys  came  in  and  told  them  that  as  he  was 
driving  a  bunch  of  white  faces  from  the  south  range  he 
found  Nell's  pony  without  a  rider.  This  created 
excitement  at  the  ranch.  Bob  rode  to  the  office  and 
was  told  that  Nell  had  not  called  for  the  mail.  The 
cowboys  rode  all  night,  but  could  find  no  trace  of  Nell. 
In  the  morning  the  livery  team  was  still  missing  and 
the  couple  had  not  come  back  to  the  hotel.  This 
threw  suspicions  on  the  man  and  woman. 

Bob  Deering  did  everything  in  his  power  to  locate 
Nell,  but  to  no  avail. 

t     t     t 

The  express  was  behind  and  was  running  to  make  up 
lost  time  to  San  Francisco.  Still  it  did  not  go  fast 
enough  to  suit  the  couple  in  one  coach.  They  had 
their  heads  together  talking  low. 

"Tom,"  the  woman  was  saying,  "I  knew  her  as  soon 
as  I  put  eyes  on  her  at  the  little  station,  but  when  I 
saw  the  scar  on  her  wrist  I  was  sure.  Sh!  she  was 
waking." 

A  girl  about  twelve  years  old  sat  up  and  looked 
around  with  a  hunted  look.  Twas  Nell.  She  had 
been  told  that  the  woman,  Mrs.  Reed,  was  her  aunt 
and  that  she  would  take  her  to  her  home  in  San  Fran- 
cisco. At  the  station  they  took  a  cab  to  a  lonely  house 

80 


NELL 

in  a  deserted  part  of  the  city.  Here  the  girl  is  kept 
under  watch.  Mrs.  Reed  has  learned  from  Nell 
where  she  had  been  staying  at  the  Deering  Ranch. 
She  has  also  learned  that  there  is  a  little  mahogany 
chest  at  the  ranch  belonging  to  the  late  Mr.  Warefield. 
When  Reed  came  home  she  told  him  of  the  dis- 
covery and  said:  "Tom,  there  are  certain  papers  we 
must  possess  before  we  can  claim  the  girl's  fortune. 
Without  a  doubt  they  are  in  the  chest.  Go  to  the 
ranch  and  work  until  you  get  a  chance  to  get  the 
chest." 

Thus  Tom  Reed  is  hired  on  the  Deering  Ranch  to 
help  with  the  alfalfa  hay.  A  few  nights  later  Bob  is 
wakened  by  a  noise  on  the  back  porch.  He  grabs  his 
revolver  and  opens  the  door.  Someone  was  crawling 
from  the  window  of  Nell's  room  to  the  porch.  Bob 
fires  twice.  The  thief  falls  forward  and  drops  the 
chest  on  the  floor.  The  boys  came  running  with  lights. 
There  lay  the  new  hand  dead.  One  bullet  had  splin- 
tered the  lid  of  the  chest  and  Bob  saw  a  paper  sticking 
from  the  crack.  He  got  a  hammer  and  broke  the  lid 
and  found  a  bundle  of  papers  in  a  secret  drawer.  The 
papers  are  addressed  to  Nellie  May  Warefield. 

"My  daughter  Nellie: — I  write  these  lines  so  if 
anything  happens  to  me  you  will  know  your 
history.  I  am  taking  you  away  from  scenes 
distasteful  to  me.  Your  mother  left  you  when 
you  needed  a  mother's  care.  It  may  be  better  so. 
She  was  not  a  fit  companion  to  care  for  you. 

81 


ADVENTURES  AND  DAY  DREAMS 

Deceitful  and  adventuresome,  she  left  you  and  ran 
off  with  a  man  of  shady  character.  Beware  of  her 
always.  She  may  try  to  get  possession  of  the 
fortune  that  will  be  yours.  Your  late  aunt  left 
in  my  care  her  fortune  to  be  yours  when  you  are 
of  age.  In  this  bundle  you  will  find  papers  to 
prove  your  claim. 

"(Signed)  James  A.  Warefield." 
Now  the  mystery  of  little  Nell  was  solved.     On  the 
dead  man  they  found  his  address  in  San  Francisco,  so 
Bob  made  a  vow  to  hunt  Nell  and  bring  her  back. 

He  went  to  the  city  and  secured  a  wig  and  beard  and 
clothes  to  duplicate  Reed's.    He  then  went  to  the 
address  found  on  Reed  and  knocked  at  the  door.     It 
was  opened  by  a  woman.    When  she  saw  him  she 
exclaimed.  "Tom,  what  luck  did  you  have?" 
"I  got  the  papers  all  right." 
"Good,  now  we  can  claim  the  fortune." 
Bob  removed  his  disguise  and  said,  "Excuse  me, 
madam,  but  I  hardly  accept  a  partnership  in  your 
dealings. 

She  clutched  her  throat  and  then  drew  a  knife  from 
her  belt  and  rushed  at  Bob.  He  caught  her  wrist  and 
said:  "Your  game  is  up.  You  had  better  produce  the 
girl,  Nellie  Warefield." 

She  composed  herself  and  said,  "Pardon  me,  you 
wished  to  see  my  niece.  I  will  call  her." 

She  left  the  room  and  Bob  soon  heard  a  scream  and 
rushed  into  the  next  room  to  see  Mrs.  Warefield,  alias 

82 


NELL 

Mrs.  Reed,  lying  on  the  floor  in  her  death  agony.  The 
knife  was  buried  in  her  breast. 

He  rushed  from  room  to  room,  calling,  "Nell,  Nell." 
He  heard  someone  pound  on  a  door  and  he  pushed  it, 
but  found  it  locked,  so  he  broke  it  with  his  shoulder. 
Nell  rushed  to  him  and  exclaimed,  "Uncle  Bob!  I 
knew  you  would  come.  Take  me  back  to  the  ranch." 

"I  will,  Nell,  but  there  is  some  bad  news.  The  lady 
you  were  staying  with  fell  on  her  knife  and  I  fear  she 
is  dead." 

Out  of  respect  for  Nell  he  had  the  woman  buried  in  a 
decent  way.  Then  he  took  Nell  back  to  the  ranch. 

A  few  days  later  he  gave  her  the  papers  from  her 
father's  chest.  She  read  them  and  said,  "This  is 
strange.  I  wonder  if  I  would  know  this  odd  mother 
if  I  should  meet  her." 

Bob  told  her  he  thought  she  ought  to  go  away  to 
school  for  a  few  years  as  she  would  be  a  rich  lady  some 
day  and  would  need  to  be  prepared  to  go  into  society. 

"No,  no,  Uncle  Bob.  I  want  to  stay  with  you 
always." 

Bob  finally  persuaded  her  to  go  to  school  and  she 
stayed  there  until  she  was  eighteen.  Then  she  wrote 
she  was  coming  to  the  ranch. 

When  Bob  met  her  at  the  station  he  was  surprised 
at  her  beauty.  If  he  thought  years  ago  that  she  was  a 
beautiful  child,  what  did  he  think  now  of  the  lady 
before  him?  When  they  got  to  the  ranch  Bob  told  her: 

83 


ADVENTURES  AND  DAY  DREAMS 

"Miss  Warefield,  you  can  go  to  the  city  and  claim  your 
fortune  now." 

"Don't  call  me  Miss  Warefield.  I  want  to  be  just 
plain  Nell.  And  I  think  it  is  real  mean  of  you  to  send 
me  away  again." 

"Nell,  if  it  is  your  wish  you  may  stay  with  me 
always,  but  you  must  call  me  plain  Bob." 

If  one  was  to  ask  Bob  Deering  the  color  of  his  wife's 
eyes  he  could  come  no  nearer  telling  than  he  did  of 
little  Nell's  years  ago,  and  Nell  never  knew  she  had 
met  her  unnatural  mother.  It  were  better  so. 


84 


IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

It  was  in  June,  1882,  that  a  friend,  Jack  Stanley, 
invited  me  to  make  a  trip  in  the  Coast  Range  Moun- 
tains of  Oregon.  It  was  to  be  a  pleasure  and  business 
trip  combined.  Jack  was  starting  up  a  new  saw  mill 
and  had  bargained  for  three  yoke  of  oxen  with  a  Mr. 
Carver,  who  lived  on  the  west  slope  of  the  mountains 
on  Little  Elk  Creek.  They  have  Little  Elk  and  Big 
Elk  Creek,  both  on  the  west  slope. 

Take  your  map  of  Oregon  and  put  your  finger  on 
Yaquinia  Bay;  cross  the  bay  and  follow  up  Yaquinia 
River  to  Big  Elk  Creek  and  then  on  up  to  Little  Elk 
Creek.  This  leads  you  to  the  very  foot  of  old  Mary's 
Peak.  Here  you  have  an  ice-cold,  clear  stream,  well 
fillled  with  mountain  trout.  This  is  where  Mr.  Carver 
lives. 

We  crossed  from  the  east  side  by  a  trail  that  led 
across  the  foot  of  Mary's  Peak,  a  grand  old  mountain 
and  a  landmark.  From  parts  of  the  Willamette 
Valley  it  looms  up  most  beautiful.  It  is  covered  with  a 
growth  of  big  firs  except  at  the  very  top,  where  there 
are  some  two  or  three  hundred  acres  which  is  covered 
with  snow  until  in  May.  Then  a  thick  growth  of  grass 
shoots  up.  This  is  pastured  with  cattle  until  late  in  the 
fall.  As  you  ascend  the  mountain  the  big  valley  is  at 
your  back  and  as  you  go  higher  the  farms  look  like 
playthings.  When  on  top  you  see  several  towns  up  and 

86 


IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

down  the  Willamette  Valley.  You  turn  and  looking 
far  over  the  smaller  mountains  catch  a  glimpse  of  the 
Pacific  Ocean. 

When  we  got  well  down  the  west  side  we  came  out  of 
the  big  fir  timber.  Here  years  before  fires  had  burnt 
over  everything.  Standing  straight  and  bare  like 
sentinels  were  the  charred  bodies  of  the  giant  firs,  with 
a  growth  of  underbrush  and  smaller  trees.  On  some 
of  the  ridges  there  was  no  brush  but  there  was  fern 
which  grew  as  high  as  my  head.  There  were  lots  of 
wild  blackberries  and  thimbleberries  along  the  trciil. 

I  furnished  the  ponies  for  the  trip.  They  were  small 
and  wirey.  Quite  often  we  had  to  jump  logs  with 
them  when  there  was  no  way  around. 

We  rode  into  a  little  clearing  and  saw  a  log  house  with 
a  garden  nearby.  Farther  down  was  a  log  barn  and 
corrals.  Mr.  Carver  came  out  and  welcomed  us, 
telling  us  the  oxen  were  out  somewheres  and  that  he 
would  look  them  up  in  the  morning. 

The  next  morning  the  oxen  could  not  be  located,  so 
we  all  hunted  for  them,  each  going  a  different  direction. 
I  followed  a  dim  trail  toward  the  Peak  and  was  picking 
my  way  carefully  as  I  had  jumped  some  deer  that 
morning.  Soon  I  heard  the  baying  of  hounds  across 
the  ravine  and  thought  perhaps  they  were  after  a 
deer.  Presently  I  heard  them  on  my  side  of  the  ravine 
and  nearer.  I  heard  something  running  through  the 
fern.  I  peeked  out  of  the  trail  and  out  rushed  some- 
thing and  knocked  me  onto  my  back.  My  gun  went 

87 


ADVENTURES  AND  DAY  DREAMS 

off  in  the  air.  I  shook  the  dirt  from  my  eyes  and  saw  a 
big,  black  bear  running  down  the  trail  and  the  hounds 
were  scurrying  all  around  me.  I  will  admit  I  was 
surprised. 

The  owner  of  the  hounds  came  running  down  the 
trail  and  asked  me  if  I  had  seen  a  bear.  I  replied  that 
I  had  seen  and  felt  one.  We  followed  the  hounds 
down  the  ridge.  Then  they  turned  toward  the  creek 
and  we  could  hear  them  baying  loud.  My  friend 
said,  "Treed!" 

When  we  came  nearer  the  hounds  we  saw  they  were 
jumping  around  a  big  stump  and  the  bear  was  on  top 
looking  down.  We  shot  several  times,  before  he 
tumbled  off  and  ran  into  the  brush.  It  was  some  time 
before  the  hounds  were  still,  but  when  they  finally 
quieted  we  took  a  look  and  found  the  bear  was  dead. 

When  I  got  back  to  camp  at  noon  the  other  boys  had 
two  nice  young  bucks  dressed.  It  was  four  days  before 
we  found  the  oxen.  We  walked  miles  each  day.  My! 
what  an  appetite  I  had  when  we  came  to  the  table. 
The  chairs  were  benches;  the  table  was  made  of  slabs; 
but  did  a  king  ever  sit  to  such  a  feast — green  peas,  new 
potatoes,  butter  milk  and  honey  with  venison  and 
mountain  trout  every  day.  I  hated  to  leave  that  little 
mountain  home. 

The  next  morning  after  we  found  the  oxen  we  bade 
good-bye  to  the  Carvers  and  started  across  the  trail. 
We  had  a  yoke  for  each  span  of  pxen  and  as  we  had  to 
drive  single  file  over  the  mountain  we  took  each  yoke 


IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

and  tied  it  on  an  ox's  back  with  one  end  tied  between 
the  horns. 

The  first  evening  we  reached  the  settlement  and  the 
next  day  about  sundown  we  came  to  Jack's  mill 

Some  day  I  expect  to  visit  the  little  mountain  home 
again. 


89 


Christmas   in    the    North. 


CHRISTMAS  IN  THE  FROZEN 
NORTH  OR  SUNNY  SOUTH 

A  chill  has  come  over  the  northland.  The  lake 
glares  with  a  shining  coat  of  ice.  The  trees  are  draped 
with  silver  beads,  the  earth  is  covered  with  light  fluffy 
snow,  soft  and  downy,  as  a  lady's  cheek.  A  wolf 
skirts  the  lake  in  search  of  food.  His  tracks  make 
two  rows  of  dots  in  the  snow.  Now  a  bear  comes  out 
of  the  timber  and  shuffles  through  the  snow  to  the  edge 
of  the  lake.  He  looks  through  the  ice  until  he  sees  a 
fish,  then  he  hits  the  ice  and  stuns  the  fish  until  he  can 
break  the  ice  and  get  it  out.  Now  an  owl  is  heard 
across  the  lake.  "Hoo  toot  tohoo."  The  bear  looks  up, 
then  resumes  his  fishing.  Crack!  a  noise  rings  out 
over  the  lake  like  a  rifle  shot.  'Tis  only  the  ice  settling. 
The  bear  takes  fright  and  goes  plowing  through  the 
snow  in  an  awkward  lope  towards  the  timber.  Now 
the  sun's  rays  are  breaking  over  the  mountain  peaks, 
falling  on  the  ice-covered  lake,  throwing  a  shining  glare 
on  all  things.  The  trees  glisten  and  quiver  in  the 
sun's  rays.  Now  the  birds  are  seen  hopping  about  in 
search  of  food.  A  hunter  comes  out  of  the  timber 
across  the  lake.  He  is  walking  on  snow  shoes.  The 
limbs  he  touches  in  passing  are  freed  of  their  load  and 
go  bounding  hi  the  air,  a  contrast  of  green  against  the 
white.  Now  the  hunter  crosses  the  lake  and  looks  to 
the  right  and  left  of  him.  His  eye  falls  on  the  bear's 

91 


ADVENTURES  AND  DAY  DREAMS 

tracks  in  the  snow.  He  shifts  his  gun  to  his  arm  and 
follows  his  trail  into  the  forest.  The  trail  leads 
through  bushes  and  over  logs,  but  always  deeper  into 
the  forest.  Now  it  leads  the  hunter  in  a  rocky  ravine. 
The  perpendicular  rocks  are  bare  of  snow  and  under 
this  ledge  the  trail  leads  into  a  dark  hole  in  the  rocks. 
There  is  a  strong  odor  from  the  hole  in  the  rocks. 
The  hunter  stops  and  gathers  some  dry  twigs  and  limbs 
and  piles  them  in  the  hole.  These  he  sets  afire  and 
covers  over  with  wet  moss.  He  then  takes  his  station 
on  the  rocks  above  the  hole  with  his  gun  ready  for 
action.  Soon  there  is  a  sneeze  and  snort.  Out  rushes 
bruin,  knocking  the  burning  brands  every  way.  Crack, 
goes  the  rifle.  Bruin  stumbles.  Crack!  Crack!  in 
quick  succession.  Bruin  rolls  over  in  the  snow  and 
kicks  and  claws  the  bushes.  The  hunter  approaches 
near;  with  one  well-directed  shot  despatches  bruin. 
Behold  a  sight  for  a  painter's  brush.  Everywhere  the 
soft  white  snow.  Here  and  there  the  green  boughs  are 
freed  of  the  snow.  The  bear  with  his  dark  coat  is 
laying  on  the  snow  streaked  with  crimson  stains.  'Tis 
evident  the  hunter  is  not  of  an  artistic  nature,  for  he 
draws  a  slim-bladed  knife  from  his  belt  and  proceeds 
to  rip  open  bruin's  pelt.  When  his  task  is  ended,  he 
seats  himself  on  a  log  and  takes  from  his  inner  pocket  a 
photo  of  a  laughing  blue-eyed  girl.  He  is  saying  as  he 
looks,  "I  wonder  how  she  is  spending  this  Christmas 
day." 

92 


ADVENTURES  AND  DAY  DREAMS 

The  sun  is  smiling  over  the  southland.  The  orange 
trees  are  abundantly  and  fragrantly  in  bloom.  The 
flowers  are  all  out  and  the  meadows  are  green  and 
sweet  scented.  Away  upon  yonder  mountain  peak  is 
just  a  touch  of  snow.  In  a  tree  top  a  mocking  bird  is 
singing.  He  stops  as  a  girl  comes  down  the  path  past 
the  flower  beds  and  out  in  the  orange  grove.  She  has 
sunny  hair  and  blue  eyes.  Her  dress  is  low  at  the  neck 
and  has  short  sleeves.  She  seats  herself  under  an 
orange  tree  and  takes  from  her  handbag  a  photo  of  a 
pleasant  looking  boy  with  dark  curly  hair.  She  is 
saying,  "I  wonder  how  he  is  spending  this  Christmas 
day." 


94 


FOREST  AND  STREAM 

OR 

A  DREAM 

One  drowsy  afternoon  I  was  sitting  in  my  room 
reading,  when  a  longing  to  be  in  the  forest  came  over 
me.  Then  it  must  be  that  I  lay  my  book  aside  and 
went  into  the  forest,  for  now  I  am  hi  the  woods. 

Sometime  I  liken  the  trees  to  people  I  have  known. 
See  that  pine  standing  on  yonder  knoll,  a  sentinel  on 
duty,  towering  over  the  other  trees,  facing  his  foes,  the 
wind  and  the  rain. 

Now  I  go  down  to  the  brook.  A  fisherman  I  see 
standing  on  the  banks  near  the  riffles.  This  patient 
fisherman  (a  willow  with  one  long  slim  limb  out  over  the 
water  with  the  end  bending  down)  touches  the  swiftly 
moving  water.  This  sets  the  limb  aquiver.  Ever 
anon  the  limb  bobs  clear  of  the  stream  like  a  fisherman 
jerking  his  rod.  I  pass  with  silent  tread  lest  I  frighten 
the  fish  away. 

Now  I  come  to  where  the  hillside  slopes  away  from 
the  brook.  Do  my  eyes  deceive  me?  No,  these  surely 
are  school  children  out  for  a  recess.  The  girls,  a 
cluster  of  small  cedars  and  the  boys  are  a  clump  of 
pines.  When  the  wind  | whips  down  the  ravine  they 
romp  and  play  in  joy.  Near  the  brook,  but  in  sight  of 
her  flock,  the  poplar  schoolma'am.  I  would  vouch  for 
it  that  she  is  Popular,  for  I  have  been  told  that  she  has 

95 


ADVENTURES  AND  DAY  DREAMS 

been  poplar  all  her  life.  And  so  slim  and  supple.  A 
book  she  must  be  reading  for  I  can  see  the  leaves 
turning. 

Now  I  go  to  the  foot  of  a  bald  mountain  and  look  up 
to  its  rocky  summit.  Tis  a  hard  climb,  but  I  feel 
ventursome.  So  up  I  go.  Near  the  top  I  stop  to  take 
breath.  Ah  me,  I  see  a  ragged  juniper  rooted  among 
the  rocks.  This  must  be  the  hermit  of  the  bald 
mountain.  Far  away  from  all  trees  and  shrubs  he 
spends  his  days  and  nights  in  solitude.  I  will  not 
intrude  farther. 

So  I  pick  my  way  down  to  the  forest  again  and  sit 
under  a  lone  pine.  A  charred  stub  stands  near  by. 
The  pine  is  soughing  and  moaning  in  mournful  notes. 
Can  it  be  this  tree  is  haunted.  Now  I  remember. 
The  book  I  was  reading  was  about  the  lady  and  the 
pine.  The  book  says  the  Indians  captured  the  lady 
and  her  husband  and  tied  her  to  one  tree  and  her 
husband  to  the  other,  and  then  set  fire  to  the  tree  her 
husband  was  tied  to.  The  wife  watched  the  tree 
burn  and  her  husband  was  charred  into  ashes;  then  it 
was  said  the  lady's  spirit  turned  into  the  pine,  so  she 
could  be  near  her  husband.  Now  she  is  ever  looking 
down  on  the  stub  and  sighing.  I  am  not  of  a  nature 
to  court  ghosts,  so  I  leave  the  haunted  pine  to  her 
solitude. 

A  little  farther  and  I  behold  the  laurel,  the  tree  with- 
out shame.  Just  on  the  slope  of  yonder  ridge  it  stands 
apart  from  other  trees.  Its  limbs  and  body  are  bare 

96 


FOREST  AND  STREAM 

and  nude  and  the  modest  trees  nearby  stand  with 
drooping  heads. 

Unlike  human  beings  I  do  not  always  see  the  gnarled 
and  bent  in  the  aged.  Here  stands  a  pine  of  many 
years,  straight  and  thrifty.  It  has  wintered  through 
many  a  storm. 

At  one  side  I  see  a  clump  of  trees.  One  is  crowded 
and  overshadowed  by  the  others;  it  is  puny  and  thin. 

As  I  go  deep  into  the  forest  'tis  all  shade  and  shadows. 
I  see  rare  ferns  and  vines  that  are  never  in  the  sun- 
shine. They  are  soft  and  tender.  Nature  had  made 
it  so.  All  life  that  in  the  shadows  grow  is  weak.  In 
the  sunshine  we  see  life  that  is  robust  and  strong. 

Now  I  am  walking  on  a  carpet  of  many  colors,  made 
and  woven  in  Nature's  loom.  Tis  cool  and  soft  under 
my  foot.  I  sit  down  on  a  log  covered  over  with  a  moss 
padded  cushion. 

'Tis  a  delight  to  go  from  tree  to  tree  of  different 
kinds  and  inhale  the  perfumes.  Here  the  salal  bush 
grows  over  the  ground  in  profusion,  loaded  with  purple 
berries.  Here  stands  a  dead  cedar  twisted  around  its 
body  an  ivy.  My  eyes  followed  it  up  the  stub.  A  red- 
headed woodpecker  pops  out  of  a  hole  and  with  a 
quick  jerk  of  his  head  nods  me  a  good  morning.  As  I 
go  on  my  path  is  blocked  by  the  gigantic  roots  of  a 
fallen  monarch  of  the  forest.  There  had  been  a  mighty 
battle  fought.  Here  is  a  deep  and  ragged  hole  in  the 
ground.  The  roots  had  clung  with  power  before  being 
torn  loose,  but  the  wind  was  more  powerful  and  laid 

97 


FOREST  AND  STREAM 

the  giant  fir  low  in  its  natural  death.  Like  a  corpse, 
its  long,  straight  body  lay  stretched  along  the  earth. 
It  had  filled  its  purpose  in  this  world.  The  fruitful 
cones  from  its  towering  limbs  had  fallen  to  the  soft 
earth.  Little  trees  are  sprouting  on  all  sides.  It  is 
to  be  ever  so.  The  fruitful  pass  on  and  others  fill  the 
vacancy. 

Now  I  come  to  a  stream  running  through  the  forest. 
I  set  me  down  on  a  rock  and  listen  to  the  brook  mur- 
muring as  it  rushes  over  the  pebbles.  The  forest  is  a 
mighty  theater  and  the  trees  are  listening  to  the  brook 
singing.  The  wind  sways  the  limbs  to  and  fro  as  if 
the  trees  are  clapping  their  hands  in  joy.  On  and  on 
the  brook  sings.  How  clear  and  sweet  the  music  and 
such  an  appreciative  audience.  I  pluck  a  bouquet  of 
wild  flowers  and  throw  them  at  the  brook's  feet.  I  go 
on,  loth  to  leave  such  a  delightful  scene  behind. 
Sing  on  sweet  stream.  May  your  music  never  be  less. 

Now  I  come  into  a  cleared  space  and  take  off  my  hat 
in  reverence.  For  I  am  in  Nature's  court.  The  judge, 
a  mighty  oak,  stands  upon  a  knoll.  Just  beneath  are 
the  lawyers,  a  few  smaller  oaks,  and  to  one  side  is  the 
prisoner,  a  stooping  ash.  At  his  side,  the  guard,  an 
alder,  stands  straight  and  erect.  At  the  left  is  the 
jury,  a  clump  of  sumachs;  and  that  weeping  willow 
down  by  the  brook  must  be  the  prisoner's  wife.  I 
back  out  with  bowed  and  uncovered  head,  for  I  am  on 
forbidden  ground. 

99 


ADVENTURES  AND  DAY  DREAMS 

I  follow  up  the  brook  through  the  cedar  groves  with 
their  sweet  scented  foliage.  Now  I  am  surrounded  by 
trees  of  all  kinds.  Surely  there  is  a  storm  coming  on, 
for  the  trees  are  all  swaying  and  groaning  now.  Do 
my  eyes  deceive  me.  The  trees  are  all  forming  in  a 
circle  around  me.  Now  one  giant  pine  is  talking  to  me. 
"We  have  caught  you  at  last,"  it  was  saying.  "You 
are  a  murderer.  You  come  into  our  forest  and  cut 
we  trees  down  and  mutilate  our  bodies.  We  now  have 
you  in  our  power  and  will  crush  you  to  death." 

I  started  to  run,  when  a  limb  struck  me  and  I  fell  to 
the  earth. 

Then  I  woke  up,  for  I  had  been  asleep  and  had  fallen 
from  my  chair  to  the  floor.  There  on  the  floor  lay  my 
book,  "The  Lady  and  the  Pine." 


100 


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STAMPED  BELOW 



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LIBRARY,  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  DAVIS 

Book  Slip-50m-5,' 70  ( N6725s8 ) 458— A-3 1/5 


N9  828754 


PS3539 
Thompson,  1.0.         H668 

Adventures  and  day    A3 
dreams. 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


